Gumbo Z'Herbes

Ingredients

Stock

• 5 C chopped mustard greens
• 5 C chopped collard greens
• 5 C chopped turnip greens
• 3 C chopped beet tops
• 2 C chopped cabbage
• 2 C chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 C chopped watercress
• 1½ C coarsely chopped spinach
• 1 C chopped carrot tops
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped

Meats

• ½ lb smoked sausage, diced
• ½ lb smoked ham, diced
• ½ lb uncooked beef brisket, diced
• ½ lb dry Spanish chorizo or andouille sausage, diced

Roux/Gumbo

• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• ¼ C all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp table salt
• ½ tsp fresh thyme leaves
• ½ tsp ground red pepper
• ½ tsp filé powder

Service

• Hot cooked rice

Directions

Stock

1. Combine first 11 ingredients and water to cover in a 15-qt. stockpot. Cover and boil for about 20 minutes.
2. Uncover and continue boiling for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving cooking liquid, and coarsely chop greens

Meats

1. Combine smoked sausage and next 2 ingredients in pot with 2 C reserved cooking liquid. Boil for 15 minutes stirring once.
2. Cook chorizo in a medium skillet over medium-low heat until browned, stirring occasionally (~10 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on a wire rack, and reserve 3 tbs of the drippings in the skillet.

Roux/Gumbo

1. Stir flour into reserved drippings with a wooden spoon and cook over medium heat until flour is medium brown, stirring constantly.
2. Add flour mixture to the stockpot with the smoked sausage and stir well.
3. Add chopped greens mixture and 5 additional cups of the reserved stock.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
4. Stir in salt, thyme, red pepper, and chorizo, and simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, stir in filé powder and stir vigorously.
5. Serve over hot cooked rice

Chef's Notes

• This recipe is from the immortal Leah Chase of Dooky Chase in New Orleans - all three are New Orleans legends
• The recipe calls for 20 cups of mixed greens. One cup of greens, on average, is 1.42 ounces, so 20 cups would be 28.5 ounces, or 1.8 lbs of raw greens (in metric, 40.4 g/Cup * 20 cups = 808 g, or 1.8 lbs)

Gumbo Z'Herbes Raw Greens Volume Conversion Table

Greens (1 Cup)	Weight (oz)	Weight (g)
Turnip	1.94	55
Mustard	1.98	56
Collard	1.27	36
Kale	0.73	21
Beet Greens	1.34	38
Spinach	0.88	25
Arugula	0.71	20
Swiss Chard	1.27	36
Carrot Tops	0.70	20
Parsley	2.12	60
Cabbage	3.14	89
Romaine	1.23	35
Watercress	1.20	34
Average	1.42	40