| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 8 hr |
| Prep: | 1 hr |
| Inactive: | 3 hr |
| Cook: | 4 hr |
| Yield: | 8 to 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 5 to 6 ducks
- 2 large yellow onions, diced
- 2 large bell peppers, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- Water, to cover the ducks
- 1/2 pound bacon
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- Vegetable oil (if needed)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- Reserved duck broth
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 large bell pepper, chopped
- 2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained
- Salt and pepper
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 2 tablespoons mango-tamarind spicy Jamaican pepper sauce (recommended: Pick-a-Peppa brand)
- 1 large package smoked pork sausage, diced and browned
- Reserved chopped duck meat
- 1/2 cup finely chopped reserved bacon
- 1 package frozen okra, cooked to package directions, drained
- 1 pound raw shrimp, cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons gumbo file
- White rice and French bread, as accompaniment
Instructions
- Broth:
- To a large stockpot, add the ducks, onions, bell peppers, garlic, bouillon, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and enough water to cover the ducks. Bring to a boil and cook the ducks for about 1 hour, until tender. Remove ducks and pull the breast meat from the bones and chop them into small pieces – use only the breast meat and discard the rest of the bird or save for another use. Strain the broth and save. Set aside the chopped duck breast and broth to use later.
- Roux:
- In a large, deep, black skillet or kettle, fry the bacon. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving the grease in the pan. To the hot bacon grease, slowly add the flour, if the mixture is of a paste consistency, add more bacon grease or oil until it’s loose and easy to stir. Stirring constantly, flour-grease mixture should cook on medium heat until a dark caramel color is obtained. Add the salt and pepper and stir. As soon as the salt and pepper are stirred into the roux, add the remaining ingredients to make the gumbo.
- To the hot roux, add broth, then the onions, peppers and tomatoes. Add the seasonings. Then add sausage, duck, bacon pieces and okra. Next add the shrimp, cook until shrimp is pink. Finally, add the gumbo file and stir. Let gumbo simmer for about 1 hour. The longer it simmers, the better it gets.
- Serve over white rice with hot French bread
Reviews
Needed a way to use up lots of wild duck. Actually prefer duck gumbo over chicken at this point! Don’t worry if you can’t find the mango sauce. I’ve never made it with it and haven’t missed it.
I used leftover Duck meat and carcass from a holiday dinner. Excellent!
We had this with fresh ducks at my Duck Club in Illinois. Only change was Andoullie sausage for the Smoked sausage, making a bit more spice. GREAT texture, Andoullie doesn’t overpower the duck. A wonderful taste, with a great blend of all textures and especially the flavors: bacon, shrimp, sausage, duck, chicken broth, onion and garlic. For a boy with southern roots, okra also makes it. Wow! Only change next time might be to put it over wild rice. You will mop the bottom of the bowl with the bread!