Back a few years ago, when the family was living up in the Flathead north of Kalispell, I met a guy nicknamed Bib who lived in a nearby community.
Bib wanted to be a horseman and a welder when he grew up; unfortunately a wayward youth and some very poor decision making led him down the path to becoming an ENT (ear, nose and throat physician), in truth a damned good one.
He forever had a project pony or two that he was working with and dragging around in a beat up two horse trailer pulled by his dilapidated flatbed pickup with the rusty welder-generator unit in back. And yes, he was almost always wearing his trademark bib overalls, even now and again in the hospital.
He was unceasingly late to meetings, swore like a true cowboy and earned his weathered Montana patina the hard way – cutting hay under the endless summer skies and feeding stock year round no matter how cold the wind was blowing.
Of course he could bullshit the feathers off a chicken too.
Bib fly fished a bit though lacked the patience to fish well when things were slow; he’d get fidgety and demand to row, though he’d inevitably get distracted by something and run the boat under a sweeper or right down the lane we’d be trying to fish.
Bib had done part of his training at the infamous Charity Hospital in New Orleans, way back in the day before LSU took it over, and while no doubt he was truly a fish out of water in that setting, he loved his time ‘on the bayou’.
It was there that he learned to make a tried and true rue-based gumbo and he always swore that a roasted turkey carcass made the best gumbo broth. He’d even get friends to save turkey bones for him and he’d round them up, spray with a little olive oil and roast in a 325 degree oven for an hour or so until they were a rich, dark brown. Then into the stock pot they’d go….
He’d then serve his Roasted Turkey Bone Gumbo at a party during the holidays out in his barn; it was a grand time.
(I can hear the scoffs and snickers from the city crowd about folks still having parties in the barn. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. And leave your freakin’ Italian driving moccasins at home.)
If Bib were standing looking over your shoulder as you make this pot of gumbo goodness, he’d pester you to cook the rue ‘till it’s a rich, chocolaty brown. Watch it like a hawk at the end and keep stirring….’
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup flour
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 lb good smoked andouille sausage, chopped
2 quarts fresh turkey broth made with roasted turkey carcass
2 cups chopped turkey, white and dark meat
4 tbs chopped parsley
4 tbs chopped green onions
Make the roux. Mix the oil and flour well in a large cast-iron pot or enameled cast-iron dutch oven. Set over medium heat and stir slowly and continuously for 20 to 25 minutes until the roux is dark brown (think a nice chocolate color here).
Add the holy trinity of cajun cooking. Stir in the chopped onions, green bell pepper, celery and garlic; keep stirring over medium heat until soft (5 to 7 minutes). Add the sausage and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the broth, salt, cayenne and ancho powder, mix well, bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for an hour.
Use up some leftover turkey. Add the turkey meat, stir well, and simmer another 20 minutes. Now add the parsley and green onions.
Serve it up. Serve hot and steaming over rice. Bib always added a little gumbo file at the table, but you’ll never miss it if you don’t have a bottle.
Enjoy.
Tags: Friday Feast
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Damn right I should have been a welder. We’ll miss you at the party this year.