Had the vegetables and sausage cooking in lard for a bit and put flour over it. Use the broth I had simmering on the stove to pour some over it. Kept stirring it so not to burn and to darken some and then poured it all into the giant pot of broth. I did use okra.
Next time I'd suggest making a roux, equal parts melted butter and flour mixed in a hot pan until the roux starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cook the veg and meat, add broth, season with filé powder and cajun seasoning (don't overthink it Emerald or Paul Prudhomme's premade are both great), then thicken, and add okra last after thickening. I'm sure you can make roux with lard but I never have.
If you really want to take it to the next level make a brown roux by making the roux in a cast iron pan and putting that in the oven at 350 for about 3 to 4 hours or until you start to see cracks on the top of it. Take it out just when you are going to thicken and stir it in while it's still hot. This is expert level gumbo making and it's easy to burn/scald yourself.
I hope this doesn't come off condescendingly, what you have in the picture looks great! Just want to use my gumbo knowledge to help everyone have better gumbo if I can. It's my favorite dish aside from a high quality smoked pulled pork. Hope this helps!
I used a seasoning I found called slap ya mama that I found a few years ago. I'll definitely try making the roux next time I make it. Also roasted a chicken to put in.
Roasting a chicken rather than just getting frozen shredded chicken is an A+ move. Also, after going over it with my girlfriend I misspoke in my last comment. The order should be thicken and then season. I just do the whole process on auto pilot at this point and I'm not used to typing it out. I'll have to seek out that spice blend. I always like testing out new stuff like that. I highly suggest trying to find some filé powder (also called filé gumbo). It's a very subtle flavor that you have to use a lot of for it to make a difference but it really takes it to another level.
Had the vegetables and sausage cooking in lard for a bit and put flour over it. Use the broth I had simmering on the stove to pour some over it. Kept stirring it so not to burn and to darken some and then poured it all into the giant pot of broth. I did use okra.
Next time I'd suggest making a roux, equal parts melted butter and flour mixed in a hot pan until the roux starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cook the veg and meat, add broth, season with filé powder and cajun seasoning (don't overthink it Emerald or Paul Prudhomme's premade are both great), then thicken, and add okra last after thickening. I'm sure you can make roux with lard but I never have.
If you really want to take it to the next level make a brown roux by making the roux in a cast iron pan and putting that in the oven at 350 for about 3 to 4 hours or until you start to see cracks on the top of it. Take it out just when you are going to thicken and stir it in while it's still hot. This is expert level gumbo making and it's easy to burn/scald yourself.
I hope this doesn't come off condescendingly, what you have in the picture looks great! Just want to use my gumbo knowledge to help everyone have better gumbo if I can. It's my favorite dish aside from a high quality smoked pulled pork. Hope this helps!
I used a seasoning I found called slap ya mama that I found a few years ago. I'll definitely try making the roux next time I make it. Also roasted a chicken to put in.
Roasting a chicken rather than just getting frozen shredded chicken is an A+ move. Also, after going over it with my girlfriend I misspoke in my last comment. The order should be thicken and then season. I just do the whole process on auto pilot at this point and I'm not used to typing it out. I'll have to seek out that spice blend. I always like testing out new stuff like that. I highly suggest trying to find some filé powder (also called filé gumbo). It's a very subtle flavor that you have to use a lot of for it to make a difference but it really takes it to another level.