
This is pretty much, hands-down my favorite recipe for the “what to do with all the leftover turkey” dilemma.
A good majority of my family is from Louisiana, so gumbo was always a staple at family get-togethers.
If you are looking for a great recipe for your turkey leftovers, here’s how to make Turkey & Sausage Gumbo:
Turkey & Sausage Gumbo Recipe
What You Need (for around 2 1/2 gallons of Gumbo):
1 Turkey Carcass (I really don’t like that word, btw)
At least 2 Gallons of Water
Extra pieces of Turkey meat (either white, dark, or both)
Favorite link sausage (about a pound)
1 1/2 cups of Tony Cachere’s Roux Mix
2 cups diced Onions (about 1 large onion)
2 cups diced Celery (about 4-6 stalks celery)
1 can of Rotel (we use original, but you can use Mild or Hot if you would prefer)
1 can of Tomatoes
2 packages (10 – 12 oz) Frozen Cut Okra
Salt & Pepper to taste
Steamed Rice
Filé (optional)
What You Do:
1. Put the turkey carcass into a HUGE pot (pretty much the biggest pot you have) and add the 2 gallons of water. Let the turkey slowly boil on the stove for several hours, or you can put it in the oven on a low temperature (around 220) covered overnight.
2. Once it has made the broth (wasn’t that easy?), take the turkey carcass out of the broth and set it aside to cool.
3. Once the broth has cooled some, strain the broth through a large metal mesh strainer to get an extra pieces out. Put the broth back into the big pot, and put 2 cups of it into a small bowl and set aside.
4. After the meat has cooled, take any extra turkey meat off of the bones and put the meat back into the broth.
5. Slice your sausage (about 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick) and lightly brown it in a skillet. Once it’s lightly browned, transfer the sausage to the large pot of broth & turkey.
6. KEEP the grease that the sausage made and sauté the onions and celery in the grease. Once sautéed, add them into the pot too. (Sautéed just means that you cook it until it’s somewhat see-through. At least that’s my definition. 🙂 )
7. Take your bowl of broth that you set aside earlier and SLOWLY add it to 1 and 1/2 cups of the Tony Cachere’s Roux Mix. Stir really well as you are adding the broth to the roux (be sure to add it in slowly WHILE stirring) to make sure there aren’t any lumps. Add the roux mix to the pot.
{NOTE: You can also make your own homemade roux, BUT you really need to know what you are doing because homemade roux burns SO easily. I would just recommend using Tony Cachere’s if this is your first time.}
8. Blend the canned tomatoes in a blender or food processor and add that to the pot. You can also add the can of Rotel to the pot at this point (no need to blend it unless you want to).
9. Add the leftover pieces of turkey to the large pot and let everything simmer on a low heat for at least an hour.
10. During the last ten minutes, add in your packages of cut okra. You can also add in a little bit of salt and pepper at this time (or you can just wait and let everyone add it to their bowl themselves).
11. Serve over rice and sprinkle with filé if desired. And enjoy!
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oh yeah gumbo or turkey noodle soup, either one is worth the wait!
Turkey tacquitos.
Sounds tasty. My husband always wants ‘Turkey a la King’,
this looks delish! I hope you will consider linking this up to my Iron Chef Challenge where this months themed ingredient is Turkey.
http://www.alattewithotta.com/2011/11/novembers-iron-chef-challenge-turkey_18.html