Okra and Greens Gumbo

Okra and Greens Gumbo
Adapted from the Gumbo Z’herbes recipe in Susan Spicer’s Crescent City Cooking
Makes 8 to 10 servings
 
½ cup oil
½ cup flour
2 medium onions, chopped
2 sweet peppers, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 medium turnips, chopped
1 cup plus ½ cup chopped scallions
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups of greens, coarsely chopped (mustard greens, turnip greens, kale or chard)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon file powder
2 quarts stock (chicken, vegetable, or shrimp)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Bouquet garni (made with parsley stems, bay leaf, and thyme)
2 cups okra, chopped
Salt and pepper
Hot sauce
Cooked white rice, optional
Also optional, cooked chicken, shrimp, and/or sausage
 
Heat ½ cup oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until almost smoking.  Carefully whisk in the flour.  Continue whisking until the roux is the color of peanut butter, or a little darker. 
Add the onions, sweet peppers, celery, turnips, 1 cup of scallions, and garlic, and cook, stirring to coat vegetables with roux, for 5 minutes. 
Add the greens, stir, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until they are wilted; add the thyme and file powder. 
Stir in the chicken stock, 2 cups at a time, bringing the mixture to a boil after each addition.  Whisk in the oyster liquor and Worcestershire sauce. 
Bring the gumbo to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Add the okra and the bouquet garni and cook over medium-low heat for about 1 hour, adding more chicken stock or water if the mixture gets too thick. 
​Season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. 

To serve the gumbo, ladle generous portions into bowls and garnish with remaining scallions, and hot rice, if desired.

These fresh-from-the-farm ingredients available at The Market at Pepper Place and Tuscaloosa River Market, as well as in CSA boxes!