icon Smoked Duck and Andouille Gumbo

Andouille Sausage is a spicy coarse-grained pork sausage, which is smoked over pecan wood and sugar cane for up to seven or eight hours at approximately 175 deg F (80 deg C). It is made of made of pork (shank meat and fat), cracked black pepper, salt, onions, garlick and wine. The recipe was originally brought to the New World by the French colonists of Louisiana. It is an essential ingredient of classic Louisiana dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice and étouffée.

Smoked duck can be used in combination with deer meat or deer sausage. This is an incredibly rich and flavorful gumbo. The recipe came originally from The Gumbo Pages, and we have added our own twists to it.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2-1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2-1 cup flour
  • One 4-5 pound duckling
  • 2 onions, medium diced
  • 2 ribs celery, sliced medium
  • 2 bell peppers, medium diced
  • 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning blend
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons Tabasco
  • 3/4 pound andouille, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons Kitchen Bouquet (for color)
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
  • 4 cups cooked long-grain white rice
  • Tabasco Sauce

Preparation:
To make Roux:

  1. In a large, heavy pot (non-reactive, not a cast-iron one), heat the oil and add the flour. Stir constantly until a dark brown roux is formed. The roux is done when it has turned chocolate-brown and releases a slightly nutty fragrance.
  2. Add the onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. This will cool the roux down. It is safer not to add any broth until the hot oil in the roux has cooled down

To make the soup:

  1. Smoke the duck, and debone.
  2. Make a duck stock with the bones. Cover the bones with 4-1/2 quarts water and the end pieces from the onions, celery and bell pepper. Simmer for 2 hours. Strain and reserve the stock. It is preferable to do this a day ahead of time, so that the stock may be refrigerated and defatted.
  3. Place 1 gallon of stock in a gumbo pot and bring to a boil. Add the roux, Creole seasoning, Tabasco, Worcestershire, white pepper, andouille and half of the onion, celery and bell pepper (the "holy trinity"). Simmer for 1 hour.
  4. Add the remaining onion, celery and bell pepper, and 2 cups water. Simmer for 1 hour. (Adding half of the trinity later in cooking helps keep them intact, after the first half gives up all their flavor and texture and disintegrates into the gumbo.)
  5. Dice the duck meat into large chunks, discarding the skin. Add the duck meat, green onions and parsley. Simmer for 15 minutes.
  6. Place about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of rice in each bowl and ladle the gumbo over and around it. Season with Tabaso sauce, or any other pepper sauce from Louisiana or the Caribbean. Serve with plenty of french bread and good beer, pinot noir, zinfandel, riesling or a rich chardonnay.

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Last updated: October 12, 2010