Turkey Bone Gumbo

Turkey bones and skin (and a few carrots, an onion, and a couple stalks of celery, if you’re ambitious – but it’s not essential)
3 quarts water – or enough to barely cover the bones
1 T Creole/Cajun seasoning, such as Tony Chachere’s, if you can find it or substitute 1 T salt
1/2 c oil
1/2 c flour
2 onions chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
Tabasco
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 c chopped parsley
2 c chopped leftover turkey
1 lb andouille – or “Creole” – sausage, chopped. Use diced ham, if you can’t find the sausage
Green onion tops
File powder (may be omitted)

Put the turkey bones and skin into a large Dutch oven and add the water and the Creole seasoning (or salt).  Bring to a boil and simmer, with no lid, for about 1 1/2 – 2 hrs.  Then strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, discarding the bones.  If you had a super large turkey – and therefore lots of broth, plan to use no more than 12 cups of it for the gumbo.  Freeze the rest of another time.

Combine the oil and flour in the same large Dutch oven, over medium heat. Stir slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes until you have a medium brown roux, the color of peanut butter.  Add the onions, garlic, bell pepper, and celery and cook until wilted.   

Slowly whisk about 1 cup of the warm broth into the roux and mix well.  Then add the rest of the broth. Add salt and pepper to taste, a dash of Tabasco, the bay leaves, basil and parsley.  Simmer uncovered for 1 hour.  If using sausage, fry it in oil until lightly browned in order to remove a little of the fat, then add the chopped turkey and sausage (or ham) to the gumbo and simmer 15 minutes longer.  Add the green onions and cook a few minutes (hold off on adding the green onions, if you intend to freeze it). 

Serve the gumbo over cooked rice and add a dash of file powder to each dish.

The gumbo will freeze well – just remember it’s nice to add some green onions before serving.