Fixing Duck

Mande and Nikki are more of the chefs/bakers than I will ever be. However, I have learned how to make a pretty good Zydeco gumbo. And tonight was the VERY first time I made the gumbo with out aid of my trusty recipe. Gumbo is one of those winter rarities I fix simply because it is so expensive to make. A big pot, if you don't have the majority of the ingredients at home, will cost about $50 to make. Thankfully, that pot of goodness will last a good long while. Whatever is not eaten is usually stored in several quart containers and frozen for later.

I kind of haphazardly came about the gumbo idea as I was wandering around the kitchen tonight trying to find something for dinner, much less just eat. I was in one of those moods where I wasn't really sure what would be good. While looking through the freezers, the fridges, the canned goods, I realized I had just about everything for gumbo. All that I was missing was a can of Rotel and kielbasa sausage. But I had everything else. I was so excited but a little worried. I'd never made gumbo without my trusty recipe. I was honestly really worried that it would taste horrible. I browned my chicken, started the rue, got the garlic, peeled some shrimp and poured the beer. Before I knew it, I was chugging along making one of like the five things I know how to make. By the time I was almost finished up making that pot of Cajun cuisine, I thought to myself, "Maybe we do have some sausage somewhere in the freezer." So back to the freezer I went. Moved the edamame to the side, moved a pint of Cherry Garcia out of the way and BAM! There it was. I could have sworn I heard angels singing. I went back over to check on my bubbling brew and then proceeded to thaw and fry up the sausage. My pot was about overflowing of all the ingredients so I had to remove a good bit of it to accommodate the added sausage. I added the sausage, stirred the gumbo around and let it simmer for another 10 mins.

Finally! It was finished. But worry crept over me even more. Let's just say if something looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, one would think it's a duck and not a platypus. Thankfully, I was eating duck. It was so good! It had been several months since I had last had it and what I had fixed tonight without my recipe was just as delish!!