Turkey Gumbo

This recipe from the New Orleans Junior League's Plantation Cookbook is really amazing. I love the green "trinity" of just green onion and celery. Brought to me by my mother in law, Betsy, as a suggested Thanksgiving leftover meal. She also generously supplied the Louisiana andouille. It is the best use of the leftover turkey carcass and meat, and has become our post-Thanksgiving tradition. 

INGRIDIENTS 

1 turkey carcass
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons bacon grease
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup chopped celery
2-3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 cup chopped hot, smoked sausage, preferably andouille
3 cups turkey meat, shredded from carcass
Salt to taste (1 teaspoon)
Pepper to taste
1 pint oysters and liquid
1 tablespoon gumbo file
2 cups cooked rice 

In a soup kettle, cover turkey carcass with at least 8 cups of water and boil about 1 hour, or until meat is easily removed from the bone. Remove carcass and pick meat off of bone. Strain and reserve 6 cups of turkey broth. To make roux, brown flour in bacon grease until mixture is a rich dark brown. Add onions, celery, and parsley; sauté 5 minutes. Slowly add broth to roux; add bay leaves, thyme, sausage, and turkey meat. Salt and pepper to taste and cook over low heat 1-1/2 hours*, adding oysters for last 5 minutes of cooking. Add file just before serving, being careful not to let mixture boil once it has been added. Remove bay leaves and serve over hot rice. If planning to freeze, do not add oysters and file until reheating to serve. 

This picture shows the roux just after the vegetables were added to give you an idea of the color you are trying to reach. 

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
Serve over rice and with leftover Thanksgiving sweet potato biscuits and braised escarole.
-OR-
Serve over or baked sweet potatoes and with crusty French bread and hearty kale salad with lemon vinaigrette. 

NOTES: 

• Help yourself by chopping green onions, celery and parsley before Thanksgiving when you chop those vegetables for Thanksgiving stuffing and store in sealed plastic bags in fridge. 
• If you have fresh broth, you can make the gumbo without the turkey meat and oysters and put in the freezer a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Then defrost and add the turkey and oysters when you reheat the gumbo. 
• Use cassava flour to make a gluten free roux; warning, it darkens in about 10-12 minutes, much faster than all purpose flour. 

Order your andouille sausage from Louisiana if you can. But a polish kielbasa will also work in a pinch. Good sources: 

• Louisiana Crawfish Company
• Cajun Grocer

The original, well-used recipe.