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It doesn't look like it's going to be Gumbo Weather any time soon so I may have to suck it up and make some in a hot kitchen, because I have a hankering for some.

Ask any cook across the south for their take on gumbo and you'll get a different answer. I grew up eating seafood gumbo on the Mississippi gulf coast, and it always had tomato in it-- very different from the gumbo you'd get in Cajun country over in southwestern Louisiana.

That's where I first had smoked duck and andouille gumbo and it just might be my favorite. My local specialty meat market has smoked turkey and I'm I'm going to give it a whirl using that. I'll report back.

For the recipes this week, first up, chicken and sausage gumbo with crawfish tails added at the end. It's adapted from the old cookbook Louisiana's Cane River Living, from Cajun country. I always opt for homemade chicken stock.

Next, a classic Creole-Italian dish of shrimp and eggplant from Mandina's in New Orleans. Make it easy on yourself and bake it in a casserole dish, or go all out and take the time to hollow out eggplants and bake it in the skin.

And finally, a seafood gumbo from Mike Anderson's Seafood Restaurant, a 50+ year old institution with locations around Baton Rouge. Enjoy these recipes, stay safe and healthy, and, as always, let me know what's on your mind.

Best regards,

Susan Ford, Publisher and Editorial Director

Louisiana Kitchen & Culture

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P.P.S. The cookbook is getting rave reviews, check out the table of contents on the order form. Makes a perfect gift!

Previous recipes:

 • Brined and Barbecued Chicken Thighs • Pan-Fried Fish • Chimichurri 3 Ways

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Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

This one veers from the traditional chicken and sausage gumbo with the optional addition of crawfish tails at the end of the cooking period. If you don't have access to crawfish tails, add a little extra chicken and sausage. 

Mandina's Creole Eggplant with Shrimp

From local's favorite Creole Italian restaurant on Canal Street in mid-city New Orleans, this is an easy recipe; as written, it's baked in a casserole dish, but for a more spectacular presentation, halve the eggplants, scoop out the flesh (leaving a thin layer against the skin), then stuff the eggplant halves with the filling. Bake as directed.

Mike Anderson's Seafood Gumbo

This gumbo is loaded with shrimp and crab--it also has tomatoes in it, which many of my Cajun friends view as sacrilegious. I grew up on seafood gumbo with tomatoes in it, so I view it as normal. My personal preference is for more okra, and I generally roast in on an oiled sheet pan before I add it to the pot- it retains its shape better that way.