The red jambalaya in New Orleans is awful. Gonzales-style jambalaya is the only way to go with it--but since you're from there, of course, that's how you roll. I don't especially like the smell of roux. I can remember it well from my dad making gumbo every Christmas when I was a kid. He still brings a shrimp and sausage and a chicken and sausage gumbo to my house every Christmas Eve--the Texans lap that stuff up. Chicken thighs tend to be the best in jambalaya or gumbo because they won't dry out like chicken breast will. My dad is a redneck from the Hammond area, but he learned to make gumbo from my Cajun maternal grandfather, who was born outside of Morgan City. Good stuff.
Break it down into two primary styles--a seafood gumbo or a chicken and sausage gumbo. There are also two roux styles, some like it light and some like it dark. Here is where the Bionic Burro has an edge. With scratch roux you can easily make it light or dark depending on your mood and your ingredients. Finally there are two main gumbo options. Okra-and-filé or sans-okra-and-file. To me, if it doesn't have both, it ain't gumbo but just chicken stew. But many omit one or both to cater to picky eaters, especially restaurant gumbo.
My mom would make an okra/tasso or chicken and sausage or shrimp and egg. I don't ever recall her making one with okra and any or all of the other stuff.
OK, @uscvball here is the Bengal B method of making roux. I don't know if anybody else does it like this but I like to experiment with food. First, use bacon grease instead of your regular cooking oil. Healthy? No! But your making something you want to taste good, not be good for you. As you stir the grease and flour mixture add in first a couple of cloves of fresh crushed garlic and stir it into the mix. Then as it starts to turn a little brownish add a few drops of Tobasco Sauce. This won't make your gumbo to hot. It will ad flavor as it cooks into the roux. When the roux has gotten to the chocolate brown stage add a few drops of worcestershire sauce and a few drops of Zatarain's liquid crab boil and stir it all in. There you have your basic dark roux. Good for gumbo whether it be seafood, chicken and sausage, duck, whatever. Also good for etoufe or jambalaya. If you are making seafood gumbo and if you can find them buy your shrimp with the heads on. After you peel and head the shrimp use the heads and shells to make your stock. This makes a big difference in seafood gumbo over using chicken broth. Of course for chicken and sausage or andouille gumbo you will want to use chicken stock. Never use plain water no matter what your recipe says. I rarely use a recipe when I make gumbo but if you want some good recipes I suggest the River Road Cookbooks.
I like okra and I'll use it in gumbo if I have it on hand but I won't go out of my way to go buy some okra if I don't have any. I always keep a jar of file around. If I use a light roux (really it a bechamel sauce) I'll usually make it with butter and use it for something with cheese and pasta. Great with chicken or seafood.
Not only is this not true but this also demonstrates that you should stick to using the shit from a jar. It is not the traffic that keeps me from Dallas, it's all the assholes that live there. Dallas is my bad luck town and nothing good has ever come from my attendance. I have and will spend an additional hour to 1.5 hours purposely driving around the entire Dallas/ Ft. Worth metroplex in an effort to get to where I am going.
