I'm back! Eastern NC Gumbo

So... a lot has happened since my last post.  My wonderful husband and perfect sampler for my meals lost his fight with leukemia and left us February 1.  I worried that my love for cooking and creating meals would be lost, because my best audience was gone.  He loved that I loved to cook and was so appreciative of my efforts at providing us with special dinners.  I miss him, terribly, when I prepare something that I know he would love.  But, I am so thankful, that I still love the adventure in creating something new.  I do miss his review of the dish which was always a positive one..." Please do this again!".

So here's what happened tonight that inspired me to post again after more than a year.

I had several great leftovers...smoked ham, a baked chicken. chicken gravy,  dried sausage (a NC special), some shrimp, then some celery that was near its end, onion, and green, yellow and red peppers that would have to be thrown out when I return from my trip to Seattle this weekend.

The recipe, and it's kind of open...like I think a gumbo is supposed to be:

Ingredients:

3 tblsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped celery
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, choppped
1 cup green, yellow and red pepper chopped (combined amount)
1 large link dried sausage (I know, you can;t get this, then add any smoked link sausage)
1 12 oz. package sliced okra
1/2 cup white wine
1.5 cups chicken gravy (I guess you could buy already prepared gravy if you don't bake your own chikcen and make your own gravy)
2 cups smoked ham, cubed
2 cups baked chicken, cubed
1 # shrimp
1 cup diced canned tomatoes
2 cups of liquid from cooking corned ham ( a rarity, I know, you could use chicken stock or seafood stock)
2 tblsp. creole seasonings

Heat olive oil in large (really large) skillet or in dutch oven.  Add celery, onion, garlic, and peppers and saute til soft.  Add sausage and saute for 20 minutes.  Add okra and start to sweat.  When the okra gets soft, add the white wine. Saute for another 10 minutes.

Now this is tricky...last night I had baked chicken wrapped in bacon...I used the drippings to make a gravy.  the gravy that was left was used, almost like a roux, in this recipe.  I added the gravy and stirred all together and simmered for 20 minutes.

To this I added the cubed chicken, and ham...cooked together for another 10 minutes, added the tomatoes and the shrimp...cooked for another 30 minutes over medium heat.

I cooked some yellow grits...my sister, Diane and I had the gumbo over the grits, and my son, Joel, had his over some left over rice.

Served with some sour dough bread and a nice Pinot Grigio...I'm happy!!!