How are your Fall Toms doing?

[Keiththibodeaux]

Picked my first fall Tomatoes today. Just a half dozen small ones from Heat Wave II, but more than sufficient for the duck gumbo I am making tonight. Duck is in the smoker as I type this.

[mysidx]

Only from Louisiana will you hear duck gumbo....

[z_willus_d]

Originally Posted by Keiththibodeaux

Picked my first fall Tomatoes today. Just a half dozen small ones from Heat Wave II, but more than sufficient for the duck gumbo I am making tonight. Duck is in the smoker as I type this.

Have a recipe? I love duck, smoke, and gumbo in that order...

[Keiththibodeaux]

Ate my first fresh cucumber and tomato salad fromt he fall crop this evening. Gardening in southern Louisiana has it challenges with bugs, heat , and humidity, but it makes up for it by essentially giving us two spring gardens, one in the spring, and another in the fall.

[Keiththibodeaux]

Originally Posted by z_willus_d

Have a recipe? I love duck, smoke, and gumbo in that order...

I used this one from Allrecipes.com, with slight modifications, like fresh tomatoes, bell pepper, and cayenne from my garden. No Worcestershire or celery.


Wild Duck Gumbo

By: Doris Heath
"Our family and friends just love this delightful, rich gumbo - it's such a unique way to serve this wild bird. We like that the meat is tender but not greasy. With all the wonderful spices, this gumbo is a flavorful main dish. -Doris Heath, Bryson City, North Carolina"

Rate

Prep Time:
1 Hr

Cook Time:
1 Hr 5 Min

Ready In:
2 Hrs 5 Min

Ingredients

• 2 (4 pound) wild ducks, cut up
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper
• 1 1/2 cups sliced celery
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 quarts water
• Hot cooked rice

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven over medium heat, brown duck in batches in oil. Remove and set aside. Discard all but 2/3 cup drippings. Add flour to drippings; cook and stir over medium heat until brown, 12-14 minutes. Add sausage, onion, green pepper, celery, parsley and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADd next eight ingredients; mix well. Add duck; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 60-75 minutes or until duck is tender. Remove duck. Cool. Debone and cut into chunks; return to pan. Simmer 5-10 minutes or until heated through. Remove bay leaves. Serve with rice.

[z_willus_d]

Thanks for Sharing Keith. Now where in California am I going to find Wild Duck for sale, other than the poach me free flocks that own the local park? I might just try with duck I can purchase for a reasonable price down at the Asian markets.

Originally Posted by z_willus_d

Thanks for Sharing Keith. Now where in California am I going to find Wild Duck for sale, other than the poach me free flocks that own the local park? I might just try with duck I can purchase for a reasonable price down at the Asian markets.

I've made it with wild duck and tame duck. I prefer the tame duck gumbo. Some wild duck can be pretty gamy tasting. Also if you use the recipe provided, it is hard to get enough oil from the wild duck to make the roux with the flour. Tame duck has a good layer of fat which will render off for the roux. Where the recipe calls for sausage, it is best made with cajun andouille sausage. When you cook the roux, if you cook the flour until it is a dark gold color, the gumbo will be mild flavored. I cook mine until it is dark brown and it develops a nutty flavor. I always cook it on pretty high heat, but you need to watch it closely or it will set off every smoke alarm in the house.

I've eaten it around a campfire with a bunch of cajuns. They always cooked it in a cast iron dutch oven sitting over a hot wood fire. You can't beat cajun gumbo.

Ted

[z_willus_d]

Wow Ted. Got me salivating in the morning, and I seldom eat or are desirous for breakfast. I've noted your points.

[b54red]

A lot of my fall tomatoes are starting to ripen even though we have had several nights well below 40 but with no evidence of frost damage. I have picked around 50 tomatoes in the last week with the most coming from Indian Stripe and the IS that turned out to be a true red with massive production. Other than a couple of Dr. Wyches Yellows , Lescana, and Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red all of the fruit that has been ripening in the last few weeks has been from the dark type tomatoes. Don't know if some of my others will have time to make it to the blushing stage or not but as long as we don't have a hard freeze or too many really cool nights they may.

[Keiththibodeaux]

My bushes are full of large green tomatoes, but ripening is not really happening. Getting nervous.

[dice]

Gumbo without okra, man, I do not know about that. It sounds kind
of radical, like a gumbo invented by someone in NY with an allergy
or something.

[Keiththibodeaux]

Originally Posted by dice

Gumbo without okra, man, I do not know about that. It sounds kind
of radical, like a gumbo invented by someone in NY with an allergy
or something.

I add File' to the above recipe, at serving time. A gumbo here would be thickend with either Okra or File', but never both. This year, I dehydrated some Okra and then ground it. I will try adding it to a gumbo in the same fashion that File' powder is added. Should be an interesting experiment.

I use the file powder at the end also. I don't use it for thickening though, just for taste. I don't use okra in my gumbo because I make "cajun" gumbo with a heavy roux. The New Orleans "Creole" gumbo uses okra and a light roux. I don't care much for Creole gumbo. It is too watery for my taste. I also top my gumbo with a good dose of Tabasco sauce. I don't add the Tabasco to the pot because many people don't like the heat.

Ted

[b54red]

Ted it is always better to add a good hot sauce to the bowl you are about to eat rather than to the pot. That way you get all of the best effects of the hot sauce. When added to the pot during cooking all you get is the heat with very little of the flavor.

I make my gumbos with a dark roux, thick and also with okra. I also don't think it is gumbo without okra.

I love okra, but not in my gumbo. Folks who live east of Baton Rouge towards New Orleans cook the Creole gumbo with Okra. Folks who live west of Baton Rouge towards the Sabine river (Acadiana) and south in and around the Atchafalaya basin cook cajun gumbo with no okra. I'm also a fan of shrimp and crab gumbo cooked cajun style.

If every other condiment were lost to history, but Cajun hot sauce remained; I would be happy. The wife and I went to one of our grandsons football games last night resulting in a late dinner at Dennys. The only thing I eat at Dennys is breakfast and the time of day doesn't matter. When the server brings my meal, it gets covered with either Tabasco sauce or Louisiana hot sauce depending on which is available.

Okay, November is here! It's time to cook our winter meals. I always cook a big pot of Cajun Gumbo, Red beans with ham hock, and vegetable beef stew. I store smaller portions of each in the freezer and most of our cooking is over for the winter.

Bon appetit! Laissez les bons temps rouler

Ted