Duck & Sausage Gumbo

Duck & Sausage Gumbo

Poultry
Main Dish

Serves 6-8

This is delicious any time of year, but makes a great buffet centerpiece for a holiday open house.

Duck is certainly delicious, but also expensive. Fortunately, this is a very flexible recipe. I almost always make it with chicken thighs and legs. I also almost always halve the recipe, since it makes enough gumbo for a small army (or a big party!).

Ingredients #

  • Two 5 1/2-pound ducks, excess fat discarded and ducks cut into serving pieces
  • 2 pounds kielbasa (Polish smoked sausage), cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds)
  • 12 cups chicken broth
  • 6 cups water
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 2 celery ribs, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 4 cups sliced fresh okra
  • 2 cups thinly sliced scallion greens

  • For the rice: #

    • 1 1/2 cups long-grain brown rice
    • 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice

Instructions #

Prick duck skin all over with tip of a knife. In a heavy skillet brown kielbasa and duck in batches over moderately high heat, transferring as browned to paper towels to drain. Combine kielbasa and duck with broth and water in a 6-gallon kettle and bring to a simmer.

Pour off all but 1/3 cup fat from skillet. Add flour and cook roux over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until a shade darker than peanut butter, about 30 minutes. Add onions, celery, bell peppers and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add vegetable mixture to kettle and stir until roux is dissolved.

Simmer gumbo, uncovered, 2 hours and let cool completely. Bone duck, discarding skin and bones. Chill gumbo overnight. Gumbo may be made 2 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Discard fat on surface and reheat gumbo with okra, cayenne, scallions, and salt to taste over moderate heat.

To prepare the rice: #

To a kettle of boiling salted water add brown rice, stirring, and boil 15 minutes. Drain rice in a large colander and rinse. Put colander over a kettle of boiling water and steam brown rice, covered with a kitchen towel and a lid, until fluffy and dry, about 25 minutes. Cook white rice in same manner, boiling 10 minutes and steaming 15 minutes. In a bowl toss brown and white rice together. Rice may be made 3 days in advance and kept chilled in resealable plastic bags. Steam rice to reheat.