Greens Gumbo

 Gumbo Zeb from Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon

This recipe is for a gumbo base that can be used for making any number of different gumbos: chicken, sausage, shrimp, or any combination you can think of. When making shrimp greens gumbo, I would use shrimp stock instead of chicken stock. Experiment with the stocks--chicken, vegetable, seafood--to see which one works best with the kind of gumbo you are making.  Generally, use 4-6 cups of stock to 6 cups of base.

Roux:
Make a dark roux using 1 cup of oil and 1 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Drain off any excess oil that has separated out.

Add 1 1/2 cups tomato or V8 vegetable juice. Mixture will be a pale orange paste.

Vegetable Saute:
In a heavy cast iron skillet, melt butter over medium heat and cook vegetables until softened:
8 tblsp. unsalted butter (1 stick)
2 large onions, chopped
2 green bellpeppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 bunch celery with leaves, chopped
1 large bunch (8-10 large) scallions, chopped

Seasoning Puree: (Don't give up...keep going!)
In the food processor, process the following until the garlic is chopped fine:
8 cloves of peeled garlic
1/4 cup Pickapeppa or Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
6-8 good grinds of fresh black peppercorns

Then add to spices in processor and chop coarsely:
1 can (16 ounces) whole tomatoes, drained, coarsely chopped (juice reserved separately and added to roux)
1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley (leaves and stems, coarsely chopped)

Stock and Greens:
6 cups any well-flavored chicken, vegetable, or seafood stock
2 cups tomato juice or V8 vegetable juice
1 teaspoon salt
4 bay leaves
6 bunches greens, well washed and finely ribboned (more variety, the better--who knows what a bunch is--just use your judgment. Remember greens cook down considerably.)

Bring stock, juice, salt, and bay leaves to boil in large soup pot. Drop in fresh greens, bring back to boil, then turn down heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, about 30 minutes.

Assembly:

Add roux mixture to soup pot when greens have finished cooking. Also add the vegetable saute and the seasoning puree. Taste for seasoning. Simmer over lowest possible heat, covered, another 15 minutes. Stir often. Remove from heat and let cool. That's it! Use or freeze at will.