Green Gumbo! Gumbo Verde' ! Gumbo Z'Herbes

GREEN GUMBO

What to do with a giant bundle of greens? Make green gumbo of course! Greens are great just boiled up with some s&p and a ham hock but why not spend a few extra minutes and make them fabulosa! You can use either one type of greens or a variety of mustard, turnip, kale, etc. The recipe calls for a pound. I used turnip greens and it was great. You can either food process the greens or just chop them. I prefer the more rustic chopped greens, but processed would look nice :) My dad says it's great over rice but I just like them plain.

4 ounces thick cut bacon chopped up
12 ounces andouille sausage sliced 1/4″ thick
3 tablespoons flour
8 cloves garlic finely minced
1 large onion minced
2-3 jalapeno chilis seeds removed and minced (add less if you want it mild)
1 pound greens
8 ounces clam juice
2 cups vegetable stock
6 ounces okra trimmed and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Add the bacon and andouille to a large pot and fry over medium heat, until most of the fat has rendered out and the sausage is browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage and bacon to a plate. You should have about 1/4 cup of fat in the pot, if you have more, remove some, if you have less, add butter.
Add the flour to the fat and fry, stirring frequently to make the roux. Keep frying until it reaches a golden brown color. Add the garlic and onions and fry until the onions are browned, soft and fragrant. Add the okra. Stir it all up until the okra is mushy and cooked down a bit.
Chop the greens or process them. Add the jalapenos, greens, clam juice, and vegetable stock to the pot. Return the bacon and sausage, then add the celery seed, oregano, paprika and pepper.
Lightly salt the gumbo. It should be a little less salty than you think it should be since some of the water will evaporate as it cooks. Cover and simmer over medium low heat for 40 minutes, or until the greens are tender and the green gumbo is thick and flavorful.
Serve the green gumbo over hot rice with hot sauce.