My father – who I know is up there right now, with a big pot of gumbo, he’s got a lemon meringue pie, he’s probably in his underwear, and he’s got a cold can of Miller Lite – and he’s dancing.
Matthew McConaughey

What a strange week weather-wise with combinations of bitter cold temperatures, then spring 70’s, and back-to-winter makes for a wild week of cooking add in the limited amount of time that I can spend in the kitchen actually cooking. Fortunately, I have plenty of time to plan meals and explore shortcuts in prep + cooking methods/appliances so as to have a great meal for just us or a small group of great family and friends.

Covid taught us that we had to really adjust especially with product availability so these new changes are should be nothing new to any of us. So now I have my own legit reason for slacking and cheating in the kitchen and some days it can be a challenge for one that is so used to doing it all.

This week I chose to make a rather easy version of gumbo inspired by Mark Bittman now don’t get me wrong, but while his recipe is easy enough there are some really good gumbo dry mixes out there that will do nicely as one Charlestonian stated in one of my “southern cookbooks”.

Yes, on the shrimp stock, I always have that stocked up in the freezer and for a touch of tomatoes I always have canned diced in the pantry…fire roasted tomatoes are my choice for a slightly smokey gumbo. Andouille being the normal sausage in my gumbo I do not hesitate to add whatever smoked version that I may have in the freezer or “fresh caught” on sale.

So with a few shortcuts here and there, you can make a great gumbo rather quickly and I’m not afraid of adding shrimp, sausage, and chicken to the pot…yes ma’am rotisserie chicken is especially acceptable here and the best bang for your buck is Sam’s Club at $4.99 and can be shredded and packaged for a couple of meals.

My additions are Chicken bone broth and homemade shrimp stock. Canned diced tomatoes extra okra file powder sliced green onions.

Mark Bittman’s Shrimp Gumbo Recipe Review