Gumbo

How is it that I have made it this far in my cooking career without ever making gumbo? Somehow it seems to have been so, but that all came to an end today. I found this recipe on the Internets and then, go figure, winged it. I decided on gumbo because of all the okra in the freezer. That stuff has got to go someplace and there is little that I think to put okra in... First of all, I used bacon fat since I had some. A couple tablespoons full and added a chopped onion, two ribs of celery, half a carrot, one roasted red pepper and a couple of small hot and sweet peppers. I sauteed those for a bit in the fat and waited until the juices evaporated and the veggies were relatively dry. Then I added a couple tablespoonfuls of flour and sauteed that for a while til it got a little brown. Then I started adding hot stock a little at a time. When it got kind of broth-y, I added a bay leaf, some cooked chicken and some sausage slices. Then some frozen summer tomatoes and then a potato because it was on the counter and otherwise in my way. Then I chopped up some of the okra from the freezer. Salt. Pepper. YUM. It is going to be super tasty over rice. I think that is its job.

I also made some bolognese. We are gonna do some good eatin' this week.