Gumbo File

Ingredients

• One large chicken
• two pounds of brisket
• one tablespoonful of lard
• two tablespoonfuls of flour
• one onion chopped fine
• some parsley chopped fine
• some thyme chopped fine
• two quarts of oyster liquor
• two quarts of boiling water
• one can of tomatoes (pint)
• one hundred oysters
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. 1

   Cut up chicken as for frying, put lard in kettle, which has become hot.

2. 2

   When lard is melted and hot, add flour and cook till brown, stirring constantly.

3. 3

   Then brown the chopped onion in this roux.

4. 4

   Add meat and stir for twenty minutes.

5. 5

   Gradually add water, then tomatoes, parsley, and thyme; cook slowly for three hours.

6. 6

   Half an hour before serving, add oysters and cook for half an hour.

7. 7

   Stir in file to thicken before serving.

Nutrition per serving

As published

This recipe was extracted from Southern Recipes (1913) by Laura Thornton Knowles, page 1. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

One large chicken, or two pounds of bris- ket, one tablespoonful of lard (kitchen spoon), two tablespoonfuls of flour, sifted, one onion chopped fine, also some parsley and thyme chopped fine, two quarts of oyster liquor, heated, two quarts of boiling water, salt and pepper to taste; one can of tomatoes (pint) , one hundred oysters. Cut up chicken as for frying, put lard in kettle, which has become hot. When lard is melted and hot add flour and cook till brown, stirring con- stantly to keep from burning. Then brown the diopped onion In this flour and lard. 2 SOUTHERN RECIPES Now put in your meat, and stir it for twenty minutes. In this roux add water gradually, and when all is added, put in the pint can of tomatoes, also parsley and thyme; set the kettle back on the stove to cook slowly for three hours. A half hour before serving put in your oysters, let them cook only half an hour, then take kettle off the fire, and put two tablespoonfuls of file in, stirring all the time. This thickens gumbo. Pour at once into hot tureen and serve. This should be served with boiled rice. SPINACH SOUP Half a peck of spinach, one quart of stock, one pint of milk, half a pint of cream, two tablespoonfuls of butter and three of flour, one teaspoonful of sugar; salt, and pep- per to taste. Wash spinach, simmer half an hour in covered stewpan, without water, chop fine, pound to a paste; put butter and flour in stewpan, stir until smooth and frothy, then add spinach, sugar, salt and pepper and stir ten minutes; gradually add stock, and when the mixture begins to boil add hot milk SOUPS 3 and creamy boil up once, rub through a fine sieve, return to fire. Serve when hot A little onion improves it. WHITE POTATO SOUP One quart milk, six large potatoes, one stalk celery, one onion, and one tablespoon* ful of butter. Put milk to boil with onion and celery. Pare potatoes and boil thirty minutes, mash fine and light, add boiling milk and butter, salt and pepper, to taste. Rub through a strainer and serve immediately. One tablespoonful whipped cream added im« proves it. BLACK BEAN SOUP Beef, chicken (any bones except duck), put with them one quart of black beans into cold water, one tablespoonful of cloves (whole) , three-fourths of a tablespoonful of allspice, (no vegetables). Cook all day, stirring occasionally, so the beans will not bum; strain, add good glass of wine, hard boiled egg, and slice lemon. Pepper and salt. 4 SOUTHERN RECIPES OKRA GUMBO Make roux of lard, flour and onion, as for gumbo file, also cook chicken in this, then add two quarts of okra cut up fine. Cover pot and let it simmer a little while, then pour in about two quarts of boiling water if needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fresh corn is very good in this. Serve with rice. CRAB SOUP A heaping dessertspoonful of flour, a heaping tablespoonful butter, one quart of milk, season with salt, pepper, spices, and a wineglass of sherry. Put flour and butter in one pot; milk with spices (tied up in cloth) in another pot; when the milk boils, add it slowly to the flour and butter, then add crab meat, and sherry when you pour into tureen. GOPHER SOUP Gopher is a dry land turtle. Make roux of flour and lard and onion, then put in gopher, cook a few minutes in roux, then pour in two quarts of boiling SOUPS 5 water, a can of tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Tie in a thin piece of doth some whole spice and cloves, put this in, cook all slowly for two hours, dien put in a tumbler of claret, and a lemon sliced, as you remove soup from fire. FISH TURBOT 2 LA CRkME Boil your fish (red snapper if turbot can« not be had) in strong salt water, remove bones and flake it in as large pieces as possi- ble. Boil one quart of sweet cream, into which put a small onion (whole), a bunch of parsley; then add three tablespoonfuls of flour, smoothly mixed in a little milk, stir until cream begins to thicken and is smooth. (It will take about five or eight minutes.) Remove onion and parsley and pour into the mixture quarter of a pound of melted butter. Butter a deep baking dish ; put in first a layer of fish, then a layer of grated cheese (stale Edam is very fine), then a layer of cream mixture, and so on until dish is filled; sift over the top a layer of stale grated bread crumbs or cracker crumbs and cheese. Bake from three-quarters of an hour to one hour 6 FISH 7 according to oven ; must not get too dry ; gar- nish with parsley and serve with the follow- ing sauce: SAUCE Put in saucepan the yolks of four eggs, two dessertspoonfuls of vinegar and a pinch of salt; whip the mixture well and when it forms a aort of cream add four dessert- spoonfuls of olive oil, small teaspoonful of mixed mustard, a pinch of finely minced parsley, a little cayenne pepper and a lemon which has been very delicately sliced. Let this mixture come to a boil, and when it has boiled two minutes remove from the fire and serve hot with the fish. If sauce should get too stiff, it can be thinned by adding a little vinegar. COURTBOUILLON Three pounds of red snapper or red fish, one tablespoonful of lard

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.