Change of plans- Gumbo!!!!

I realized that French style duck preparations are probably not going to be worth it considering my palate. So, I think I am going to use the remaining duck in my fridge to make a gumbo instead.

One of my biggest culinary revelations that I received from living in Texas for 4 years (aside of Texas BBQ Brisket, Sichuan peppercorns, and soul food) was eating gumbo at Goode Seafood Company. Their gumbo wasn't actually even the best I had (damn good nonetheless), but they made it in a certain way that was sort of unique.

All of the components of the dish are cooked independently and then composed on the opposite side of the pass in view of the diners. Basically, they add the cooked meat and veggies on top of some rice and then poor the stock thickened with dark roux over everything. The result- everything is brilliantly cooked and it is a whole helluva lot easier to customize each bowl to order then trying to manage gallons of the fully mixed soup.

Granted- this method isn't as theatric or traditional, however, it is easier to control the relative doneness of fickle components (like okra and the seafood) that can become overcooked easily. And if you mess up one component, the whole recipe is compartmentalized so you can just throw out what was ruined and remake that component without having to start everything over again.... And what do I find while reading through the French Laundry Cookbook? Thomas Keller advocating this very same method for assembling/creating soups!

So change of plans for the remaining duck and the legs- going to make gumbo (deconstructed and then reconstructed for serving):

Current list of stuff going in:
Veggies:
- Cajun mirepox- carrots, onions, bell peppers
- Okra
Meat:
- Shrimp
- Duck breast & legs
- Andouille sausage
Stock/Roux
- I have about 2.5 Quarts of duck stock that I made up + a bunch of duck fat for the roux. Apparently duck fat is one of the best fats for you (nutritionally) because it naturally contains large levels of omega 3s.
- I also have one more duck in the fridge that will likely contribute to stockpot in short time...

Here's a photo for those who have never had the opportunity to try it (looks like this one only has shrimp and some tiny scallops as proteins)...