Some may be tempted to skip the somewhat tedious step of making a dark roux; I advise against this. The time and energy spent lovingly stirring the flour/oil mixture is essential to gumbo, and in my mind is part of the magic that can turn a rough morning around. More
My New Orleans by John Besh includes no fewer than five recipes for gumbo, which isn't really all that shocking considering gumbo is the epitome of Louisiana cooking. This Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo starts with a roux made up of equal parts fat and flour that gets slowly cooked until the mix changes from a light tan to a deep, rich brown. More
"It always feels so rewarding to add another type of neck to one's repertoire of necks." [Photographs: Chichi Wang, unless otherwise noted] I like to cook stews. I have a penchant for storied, time-consuming stews with a higher-than-average rate of... More
Today's cook the book recipe, excerpted from The Oprah Magazine Cookbook, is for a sensational Creole Gumbo straight from the Big Easy. Chef Leah Chase, owner of the restaurant Dooky Chase and arguably the Queen of Creole Cuisine, pulls out... More
Sunday Night Soups, where each week The Gurgling Cod shows up to offer a soup appropriate to the week's Sunday Night Football game on NBC. This Sunday evening sees the renewal of the Carbetbag bowl, as the Colts, former Charm... More
Editor's Note: A couple of weeks ago I saw the fine writer Sara Roahen give a talk at the Southern Foodways Symposium on boudin, the pork, liver, and rice sausage most often found in the Louisiana countryside. She was smart,... More
Sunday Night Soups, where each week The Gurgling Cod shows up to offer a soup appropriate to the week's Sunday Night Football game on NBC. This week, an easy gumbo to help cheer on the New Orleans Saints as they try for their first win of the season. (Yes, this one's a bit biased--but the author lives in New Orleans.) More
