Smoked Turkey and Andouille Gumbo

1 smoked turkey

½ cup all-purpose gluten-free flour

¼ cup millet flour

¼ teff flour

4 pounds andouille, sliced thin

4 cups diced onions, divided

2 cups diced bell peppers, any color or combination of colors, divided

2 cups diced celery, divided

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup peanut oil

salt, pepper, hot sauce

Break down the turkey. Carve out the breasts and set aside. You can serve them as a meal on their own. Remove the meat from the carcass, and cut it into bite size pieces. Set the meat aside. Don’t discard the bones!

Make the stock. Place the carcass (bones, not the meat) in an 8 quart (or larger) stockpot, and cover with water. Bring up to a rolling boil. Lower the heat, and let it simmer for about 3 hours.

Combine the flour, millet flour, and teff flour. Set aside.

Combine 3 cups of onions, 1 ½ cups bell peppers, and 1 ½ cups celery. Set aside the remaining onions, bell peppers, celery, and garlic. Working in batches, sear some of the andouille in a big pot that you will use to cook the gumbo. Once it has been seared on both sides, remove from the pot and set aside. Then use the trinity to remove the fond from the pot. Once the bottom of the pan is clean, remove the trinity and set aside. Repeat until you have seared all of the andouille. With the last batch, once the fond has been removed, add the cooked trinity and some of the stock to the pot. Cook on medium.

In a cast iron pot, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the flour mixture. Stir constantly until the roux reaches the desired color, darker than peanut butter. It should take about 10 to 15 minutes. Once the roux has reached the desired color, add the reserved trinity and garlic. Stir constantly until it boils, just a minute or two. Add some stock, stir well, and bring it up to a boil. Add this mixture to the gumbo pot.

Add any remaining stock to the pot and bring it up to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for a few hours. Increase the heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Add the turkey and seared sausage. After it comes up to a boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

As the gumbo is cooking, you may see oil pool at the top. Wait until you’re done cooking to skim the gumbo. Fat is an excellent conductor of flavor. So, we don’t want to remove that until the very end. Check for seasoning, and add salt, pepper, and/or hot sauce, if desired.

Serve with rice, and garnish with green onions, if desired.

Some notes

You can use this recipe for any poultry and sausage gumbo. When I make smoked chicken and andouille gumbo or smoked duck and andouille gumbo, I use the entire bird. Ducks and chickens don’t have enough meat to allow you to reserve the breast.
To make a roux in general, you need flour and fat. You can make a roux with butter, if you’re making a light roux. Since you need a dark roux for gumbo, you have to use an oil, such as peanut oil, that has a high smoke point, so that the roux can brown without the fat burning.
My favorite andouille is Savoie’s, but it can sometimes be difficult to find. I also really like Richard’s andouille with green onions.
This recipe makes a big pot of gumbo. While you could halve it, it really doesn’t make sense to make a “small pot of gumbo,” words never uttered in the Cajun community. It takes just as long to make a big pot of gumbo as it does to make a small pot of gumbo. Gumbo freezes well.