Zombie Prom and Gumbo...

Well, I must admit it. I helped throw a Zombie Prom last month. It was AWESOME. We had a great turn out, over 200 people and most of them were in zombie attire. Now as much as I try to avoid the undead, this was a blast.

So on to my survival tip for this post.

With preparedness one must also include food preparation. Know what is growing wild in your area, what types of game are available. Familiarize yourself with local waters, ie. streams, lakes, rivers. Once you have that under control. Start experimenting with the food you can catch, grow, or hunt. Recipes arent essential, they along with measuring spoons, and cups would just be useless stuff to weigh you down. Who has time to grab a cookbook with the Undead hoard crawling through the window ???

I am a fan of one pot wonder meals. Hence my penchant for Cajun cuisine.

Gumbo :

1 white onion medium diced
1 green bell pepper, medium diced
3 ribs of celery, split and medium diced

Meat : Ok, here is where it gets personal. I love seafood, but you can substitute chicken or pork if you dont , or cant have seafood, or fish.

1 lb Andouille sausage diced medium, I have used Smoked sausage, even spicy italian sausage when I couldnt find andouille.
1 Tbsp File powder ( note ) you need to add your file with fat, or it will ball up on you and be nasty, so either add it while you saute your veggies and meat, OR add it to your roux, and it will mix in when ya thicken it
2 oz butter, for sauteing. The extra oil gained from the sausage is very useful.
1 gallon chicken stock, yes you can use chicken base and water, or better yet, if you use chicken as a primary meat then use the water you boiled them in, adds muchly flavor.
Once the veggies are tender add in you chicken stock and bring to a soft boil
After reaching a soft boil, add in 1 cup of white rice, and 1 cup of cut okra, frozen is fine, and 1 cup of diced tomatoes
This is where you would add your seafood, or you can add your already boiled chicken.
Boil for about 15 mins, or until the rice is almost done and then add your roux

Roux : 1 cup oil ( canola, bacon grease, peanut, butter ) its up to you
1 cup of flour
wisk to combine

Roux can be made while waitin for the boiling to happen.

Add roux slowly, stiring the entire time and remove from the heat. It may seem as though your soup has gotten lighter in color, dont worry were gonna fix that. If it gets too thick add a cup of coffee, or some more chicken stock.

Now the secret part to make it look like you spent hours slaving over a stove making your roux good and brown.

Add in 1 Tbsp of Kitchen Bouquet. wisk, if the darkness you desire isnt achieved, add more till you get the color you are wanting. This stuff is good, so it dont take much. Trust me.