Emeril's Country File Gumbo

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This is my go-to recipe for Gumbo. I made it for the first time as a birthday dinner for my boyfriend last year. Major success. I made the exact amount of roux needed by using equal parts vegetable oil and flour and it tasted perfect. I've made it several times and seem to remember adding two diced chicken breasts along with the other meat once or twice. I also skipped the file powder as I couldn't find it anywhere locally and didn't feel the need to order off line. I did a little research and learned that in addition to adding flavor it was used for thickening. I prob thickened with corn starch if anything. At any rate make this, it's tha best!

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This was my first attempt at Gumbo, and what better to try then an Emeril recipe. Please note the yield on the Roux recipe. If you want to reduce the time needed for your Roux, only make a half batch. Be careful with the heat if you are using an electric stovetop, and don't stop stirring!!! I'm not sure if it was something I did, but after the 50 minutes of cooking the gumbo was just a bit too thick. I added 1 more cup of chicken broth and it came to the perfect consistency. I substituted oysters for the crab meat. I also let my guests add the File to their liking at the table. It came out FANTASTIC. Emeril did an amazing job with this recipe and the seasonings. The spice level was perfect. Browning the sausage rounds really brought that grilled flavor to them, and the fresh basil and thyme at the end really brought great fresh herb flavor to the dish. Adding the seafood at the end allowed the shrimp to maintain a good firm texture. Overall this recipe is AWESOME!

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I don't follow a particular recipe. I review them and concoct my own with what I have on hand at home. Made gumbo today and let it cook for a few hours. Used a medium dark roux, sausage, ground turkey, okra, celery, onions, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, chicken stock, can of tomatoes,even threw in some corn I had and brown basmati rice. I don't eat white rice. Came out pretty good. I was out of File and was not going to the store for it. Came out good anyway.

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Ah-mazing. Getting the Roux to the right color is key. It takes time, but it is worth it. I ladled some broth into a small cup; then stirred in 1 tsp of file powder, then returned this to the pot and stirred to combine. DO NOT USE THE AMOUNT OF FILE INDICATED IN THE RECIPE. IT WILL RUIN THE DISH.

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To the guy from GA, you're dumb; you can't put 1 star on a review when you didn't even try it because you were scared. To everyone else out there with some sense, this is a very good gumbo recipe. I like how he explained how to do the different colored rouxs as I like mine darker for gumbo. The only thing I did different was add oysters, and it was awesome.

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My daughter wanted to try Gumbo after seeing the latest Disney film. It was not a big surprise that this was too spicy for her, but mom & dad loved it.

Making the roux was an athletic event, but worth it.

My local grocer does not carry file, so I want to try it again after tracking this down. & the next time around I will double the andouille sausage because it was too good & I was snacking on it even before it found its way into the pot.

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This gumbo was slap yo mama good. Try boiling your shrimp shells and putting the broth in the mix too, do the file to taste when you dish it up, and a few black specks will not hurt the taste one bit.

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Just a bit of advice for novice gumbo makers. First if you have a hard time finding the file' there are several onlne sites that have it, Penderys.com is where i get mine. As far as using the file', if you want to add it to the entire pot please don't add it at the end unless it's AFTER you turn the fire off. DO NOT boil it after you add it or you will end up with a nasty slimy mess I promise you. I really don't understand why this recipe calls for cooking it an additional 2 minutes. Another downfall to doing it this way is if you have any leftovers you have to be very careful reheating it... again you cannot boil it. To avoid this, add the file' directly to the roux after it's hot (or if you have not made it ahead of time, then add it when it has reached the desired darkness and stir it just long enough to incorporate then add the vegies and saute them as usual. This is my prefered method. One more thing, if you do scorch your roux even just a slight bit, please do not use it. Start over or you will ruin the entire gumbo. The success of gumbo is based entirely on the roux but don't let that frighten you away from trying it and if it doesn't turn out perfect the first time please keep trying, some things just take a little practice but a good pot of gumbo is soooooo worth it!

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I have made gumbo several times in the past with great succes, but, knowing Emeril is from Louisiana, I wanted to try one of his. I kept the base ingredients the same, but changed the filler componants. I also doubled the recipe since it was for a social gathering. I don't eat seafood so I eliminated those and instead tripled the amount of sausage and added over two pounds of chicken breasts that I baked in olive oil and Emeril's Essence, quite liberally. I added two cans of diced tomatoes and four cups of sliced, frozen okra?that I added with the herbs. I have never made a roux like the one in this recipe. I should probably should have taken it off sooner than I did because it ended up looking similar to the color of chocolate, but it worked and tasted WONDERFUL!!! It actually continued to darken after I took it off the heat. I wish the recipe stated that?know that for next time. I couldn't find file powder either, which I have used in the past, but I have since found out that they don't carry that in our state. Oh well. Turned out I didn't need it. It was thick enough as is. It was DELICIOUS!! even doubling the recipe, there was maybe only 2 good sized servings left!!! Will DEFINITELY be making this again!! : Yum-O!!!

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That's why it is called "file" gumbo. Just a different version. No need to get all caught up in semantics.

Other than that, this is a decent recipe if you play around with it a bit to suit your personal taste.