Upperline’s Duck and Andouille Gumbo Recipe (2024)

I see Tabasco mostly in restaurants in Louisiana and elsewhere, but not so much in people's homes. I prefer Crystal for its body and depth of flavor.

The roux portions worked perfectly for me but 3 quarts of stock were waaaay too much. If it's a typo, 3 cups would not be enough. Maybe 1 1/2 - 2 quarts?Brett, any comment?

I am an old woman and must take shortcuts in cooking and do prep work in stages. I use instant roux that I mix with water into a slurry and frozen Cajun mix of peppers, onion and celery. I also use chicken thighs.

Not a restaurant in New Orleans that doesn’t have Crystal’s on the table - also the official hot sauce of the New Orleans Saints. Thankfully for all, the Baumers rebuilt after the factory on Tulane was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.

Be sure to warm/heat the stock unless you want a lot of dough balls in your gumbo.

I use duck fat. Mark Bittman’s recipe for steaming a whole duck before roasting gives clean duck fat that separates from the steaming water after you refrigerate. You will have more than enough duck fat.I also use the duck steaming water in the gumbo. Never throw out flavor.

Brett Anderson wrote a beautiful obituary for my husband Chef, Armand Jonte. I saw his entry here and as a devoted NYT cooking fan,wanted "correct" some history, The Upperline in NOLA was graced with Chef Steve Manning, years at Gautreau's with Armand in the "80's who brought Duck & Andouille Gumbo to Upperline. This was our signature gumbo at "Armand's"-Waveland.MS with dark roux. Miguel Gabriel-bravo for keeping it alive! btw, the pic is NOT really what it should look like.

Nice variation on gumbo though very time consuming (especially if you are roasting your own duck that same day) and overall this recipe doesn't come close to Prudhomme's classic gumbo recipe. If I made again I would definitely reduce the amount of dried thyme and oregano, perhaps by half. I thought the amount called for made the gumbo bitter. It mellowed on the second day but it still had a slightly unpleasant sharpness to it. I used Bittman's recipe for Easy Roast Duck and that worked well.

Hi pink, yes frozen okra will work fine. I live in Oregon now and I cannot get fresh okra in the markets. Okra likes to grow in very hot environments and though I grew it last year here, it was wimpy and had a hard time getting going. And yes, dark meat chicken would work great. I love white meat chicken too, so I always use a combo of both when making my chicken and andouille gumbo. I am a real Cajun, whose Mama is from Lafayette, so I know of what I speak! Good luck.

Similar to what I make, but I do include okra, sliced thin and sauteed until the gumminess is gone, and some white wine. I also don't use a red pepper, but no complaint about that. That is an awful lot of thyme and oregano, though. and not very much garlic.

A roux should be made with equal amounts of fat and flour by weight, not volume. If using 1 cup of oil, which weighs 8 oz, you need to use about 1&1/2 - 1&3/4 cups of flour. Gumbo shouldn’t be thick like a stew, just a lightly thickened broth. I use 1&1/2 ounces each of flour and fat per cup of broth, and it’s the perfect thickness. If you’ve using canned broth, adding 1/2 tsp gelatin per cup of liquid will add a little more body to it, as though you were using homemade stock.

No, but most traditionalists do include it, both for its taste and as a thickening agent. But, there are many wonderful gumbos, some with neither roux nor okra (more like a seafood soup in my opinion).

As an alternative to okra, file powder (Sassafrass) is traditionally used as thikening and flavoring agent.

Delicious. I used 11 cups of stock and no extra water and I thought the consistency was perfect. I only used 1 tablespoon each of thyme and oregano and that seemed sufficient.Mark Bittman's duck recipe worked well and now I have some delicious delicious duck fat to use.

I wonder how this would be if you tried using duck fat in place of the oil to make the roux? Too much?

What!?! No Gumbo (African for Okra). It ain't gumbo without gumbo.......

I’d add that you can make the roux in the microwave. Whisk oil and flour in an appropriately microwave safe vessel. Cook at 1 minute intervals, whisking after each time. Reduce interval to 30 seconds when you’re close to your desired color. Never burns, goes faster, gives you high control over the outcome.

Do you think I could substitute pheasant for duck in this recipe?

The suggestion to buy roast duck from a Chinese restaurant, and then discard the skin (the best part - it's jazzed up with malt/honey, ginger and five-spice powder, and roasted to crisp brown perfection) is bizarre. Even if you roasted your own duck, there are so many uses for the skin, e.g., cracklings - and the fat is perfect for roasting starchy veggies, typically potatoes (French chefs always save duck/goose fat.)

I tried to make the roux as per the instructions, but it burnt after about 8 min. Medium high heat is wrong. I looked up other recipes and they say medium low heat.

Seems a little bitter - I think I’d cut back on the herbs next time and maybe add some sweet paprika

I see a lot of discussion about Tabasco vs Crystal. Both are good. Tabasco works better for some, Crystal for others. I keep both in my pantry, in addition to Louisiana Hot Sauce.I generally like Crystal on meats, but Tabasco in soups --- some exceptions. Crystal is the bomb for any soup with crab. Tabasco for gumbos. Tabasco has recently come up with Tabasco with garlic. It is amazing.Both Louisiana sauces and both fantastic!

Why is canola oil used in the roux as opposed to butter per usual?

Delicious. I used 11 cups of stock and no extra water and I thought the consistency was perfect. I only used 1 tablespoon each of thyme and oregano and that seemed sufficient.Mark Bittman's duck recipe worked well and now I have some delicious delicious duck fat to use.

Brett Anderson wrote a beautiful obituary for my husband Chef, Armand Jonte. I saw his entry here and as a devoted NYT cooking fan,wanted "correct" some history, The Upperline in NOLA was graced with Chef Steve Manning, years at Gautreau's with Armand in the "80's who brought Duck & Andouille Gumbo to Upperline. This was our signature gumbo at "Armand's"-Waveland.MS with dark roux. Miguel Gabriel-bravo for keeping it alive! btw, the pic is NOT really what it should look like.

Has anyone tried this recipe or another duck gumbo using duck fat in the roux? Wondering if you get additional flavor.

I am an old woman and must take shortcuts in cooking and do prep work in stages. I use instant roux that I mix with water into a slurry and frozen Cajun mix of peppers, onion and celery. I also use chicken thighs.

I live in the New Orleans metro area. My husband is a duck hunter. He usually prefers to ‘breast out’ the mallards and other ducks that he hunts rather than plucking feathers and using the whole duck. Unless the mallards or other large ducks have large enough thighs he doesn’t keep that part of the bird. What is a good way for me to cook wild duck breast meat so that I can use it in this recipe?

Be sure to warm/heat the stock unless you want a lot of dough balls in your gumbo.

Similar to what I make, but I do include okra, sliced thin and sauteed until the gumminess is gone, and some white wine. I also don't use a red pepper, but no complaint about that. That is an awful lot of thyme and oregano, though. and not very much garlic.