Cajun Duck & Sausage Gumbo

Cajun Monday

 Folks around here enjoy hunting ducks along the delta waterways and with Mardi Gras upon us, the two naturally go together. Today’s recipe feeds a nice size crowd as well as tomorrows post in my Mardi Gras series. Enjoy!




 Cajun Duck & Sausage Gumbo
Serves about 20


7 or 8 wild ducks, dressed
4 tablespoons salt, divided
1 bay leaf
2 ribs celery, quartered
1 large onion, quartered
2 pounds smoked sausage
1/2 cup bacon drippings
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped green pepper
3 cups chopped fresh okra, or 2 -10 oz frozen cut okra
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
Cayenne pepper to taste
Hot pepper sauce (Tabasco) to taste
Cooked rice

Boil the ducks in 4 quarts of water along with 1 tablespoon salt, bay leaf and the quartered celery and onions. Remove ducks after simmering for an hour and de-bone leaving meat in bite size pieces. Strain and reserve the stock.

Slice the sausage into disks and cook to render fat. Remove sausage and set aside. Add the bacon drippings to the pot and make a very dark roux with the flour over medium high heat. As the roux turns darker, reduce heat, stir continuously with a wooden paddle to keep from sticking and turns to a glossy dark chocolate-like in color. Add the chopped vegetables, okra and parsley slowly into the roux. Slowly add 3 quarts of the stock and cook to thicken. Stir in the black pepper, the duck meat and sausage. Simmer on medium low for 3 hours stirring occasionally. Add cayenne and pepper sauce to taste. Serve over a bed of cooked rice with hot French bread.

Note: Many of us will slip a quart of fresh oysters into the pot the last 30 minutes of cooking. But that folks, is a whole 'nother taste