I made this recipe a while back and it was excellent especially on a cold day, like after last weeks end of the season duck hunt. We sat around after the hunt eating hot gumbo telling stories about the ones that flew away! It is made in the true tradition of the Deep South and will warm your soul after a cold winter hunt. You can freeze it in 2-4 man portions for a later date and if you pull it out of the freezer before you go hunting most likely it will be thawed by the time you return. Fire up the stove, throw it in the pot and it will be ready in no time. Duck Gumbo • 6 to 8 ducks split and cleaned • Chicken or beef broth • 6 TBS Old Bay • 2 TBS garlic powder • 1 TBS oregano • 1 TBS salt • 3 TBS gumbo file’ • 5 bay leaves • 4 large yellow onions chopped • 4 red bell peppers chopped • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil • 1 ½ cups flour • 20 oz frozen cut okra thawed • 2 lbs pealed and cleaned shrimp uncooked • 1 ½ lbs smoked sausage sliced Put ducks in a large pot with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil. Lower the fire and simmer for 3 to 6 hours depending on the ducks. You want to be able to pull the meat off the bones. Take the ducks out of the pot, save the liquid in the pot, drain them and let them cool enough so you can handle them. Pull the meat from the bones and coarsely chop the duck meat. Set aside and strain the liquid you boiled the ducks in into another pot and add enough chicken or beef broth to have about 3 quarts. You will need to judge this and you may need to add some more chicken or beef broth later. Heat the pot on medium and add Old Bay, garlic powder, oregano, salt, gumbo file’, bay leaves, onions and peppers. Simmer until onions are clear lookin. On the side while the pot is simmering in a skillet heat olive oil over medium heat and slowly add flour using a whisk stirring constantly until the roux is chocolate brown and not burnt. This last step makes the gumbo authentic almost more than the rest of the ingredients. Remove the roux from the fire and let it cool completely. Then stir the roux into the pot and add the chopped duck, okra, shrimp and sausage. Simmer for 10 more minutes and it is ready. Serve over white rice for a treat. Leftovers are great the next day or freeze the extra after it’s cooled down. COOOH! |
| Southern Comfort Southern Comfort By Rocky Ferraro |
| Foster City Rod and Gun Club |
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