A shameless plug from a good rebel

will be offered at a number of games in the grove this fall as soon as it’s cool enough to walk 10 feet without getting the bat wings. Gumbo may come from the bayou, but there’s nothing cool about eating it with raging swamp ass. As the time draws nearer I’ll be sure and give some landmarks to find my tent. For anyone who was at the Red Cup Tent last year; my spot is only about 30 feet away straight towards the union.

With any luck I’ll get to cook a fat ass pot in Red Stick this November but I can’t say where that might be with any specificity.

My quest is now to stock up on good Tasso and Andoullie next time im in LA so I can make it thru the season. I figure I’ll be doing a lot of cooking soon.

And as such I voted numerous times today. Firstly because of the Ole Miss attachment but just as significantly for the badass recipe. I fancy myself an amatuer cook, and your gumbo roadmap has me interested and drooling. Looking forward to hopefully stopping by for a goblet-ful late in the season. Well done, sir.

where’s the okra? Anyway, I’m gonna give this recipe a shot. I love the idea of using rendered duck fat to make a roux.

Using the fat from the duck is the most essential thing. I always smoke mine on a green egg using a pretty stout smoke like hickory. If I’m using real tasso and andouille I’ll sometime use a milder smoke like pecan or a fruit tree smoke (cherry works well). The fat really absorbs the smoke flavor and whatever beer and seasoning you put into the steam/fat collection pan. Smoking the duck and then throwing the bones into a pot for stock also adds to the smoky flavor.

I could’ve sworn I put it in the notes but somehow it didn’t make the voting page: I usually cook and pick apart the duck that’s actually going into the gumbo the same the same day that I’m cooking said cajun stew, but I usually use duck fat from a previous smoking. Basically I end up using 2 ducks, one of which goes into something else while the fat is retained in a jar and refrigerated to be used whenever I make the gumbo. That way you aren’t waiting around for the fat to separate from the extraneous juice. It just makes things much easier and you’re left with a much more manageable crisco-like layer of clean fat.

Thanks for all the votes and keep em coming. my buddy in red stick hipped me to the tiger droppings cookoff thread and those mofos are voting a lot. shockingly a couple of them threw a vote or two my way. I guess LSU’s recognition of good food transcends football allegiance. I have to admit Jay’s recipe looks solid.

If anyone lives in the downtown memphis area, I’m planning a preseason tailgate this weekend and given this unseasonably cool weather today, I think I may just have to go in search of a duck to go with my stockpiled roux starters.

Ole Miss (my gumbo) is currently sitting in 4th place behind (3)LSU, (2)Bama, and (1)Auburn. I can understand trailing LSU and Bama simply because they have a rabid legion of fans who will vote for anything that has their name attached, but Auburn? that recipe sounds like a damn joke. Help a brotha out and click on that “vote for Ole Miss” tab a few more times when y’all are bored of surfing blogs, message boards, and porn. Thanks for the votes.

Love,
RedStickRebel