Excerpted from Comfort Food the Cowboy Way: Backyard Favorites, Country Classics, and Stories from a Ranch Cook © 2023 by Kent and Shannon Rollins. Photography © 2023 by Shannon Rollins. Reproduced by permission of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
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Cowboy Kent Rollins Has a Gumbo Recipe That Will Knock Your Boots Off
Courtesy of the chuck wagon chef who beat Bobby Flay on Throwdown!
Welcome to The Pioneer Woman Cookbook Club! This month, we're featuring Cowboy Kent Rollins: rancher, YouTuber, and cookbook author of Comfort Food The Cowboy Way: Backyard Favorites, Country Classics, and Stories from a Ranch Cook. Read on to learn about chuck wagon cooking, find out how he beat Bobby Flay, and grab a delicious gumbo recipe that will leave a crowd satisfied.
When Kent Rollins is cooking supper for a crew of cowboys, the meal often involves a 22-ounce bone-in cowboy rib eye, usually some pinto beans or baked beans with a healthy portion of barbecue sauce and quite a bit of pork. Then they go to a chili casserole and freshly baked sourdough biscuits. Finally, he'll finish it off with bread pudding and whiskey cream sauce. "The ranchers that hire us know that we're going to feed cowboys as good as we can and better than a lot of folks do," Mr. Kent explains.
Mind you, this mouthwatering spread is all cooked over a wood fire. There are no knobs for raising or lowering the heat, "and you sure can't turn a light switch on when you come into my kitchen," Kent says. You might recognize the man in the wide-brimmed hat and horseshoe mustache as Cowboy Kent from his beloved YouTube channel. Viewers land on a page with over 2 million subscribers and he welcomes you in a warm Oklahoma accent, saying, "Come on, I'll get the fire hot for ya." Clad in a cooking apron and a checkered button-up, the 65-year-old seems more like that uncle with all the great stories than your typical digitally savvy viral food icon. In fact, it sounds like he was just about allergic to the internet until he met his wife and business partner, Shannon, who made him a website and email address.
In their most recent cookbook, the pair discuss how "comfort comes in many forms, from the clothes we wear to our surroundings and the food that we eat." That's why we wanted to feature the cowboy Cajun gumbo from Comfort Food The Cowboy Way. Anyone previously intimidated by the slow-cooked stew will find Kent's recipe extremely approachable; the dark roux is enlivened with his cowboy Cajun spice mix and packed with veggies, andouille, and shrimp. It's a bowl of pure comfort on a cool afternoon that Kent could eat "three times a day."
And as you find with much of the book, a great origin story accompanies the recipe. Gumbo was utterly foreign to Kent till about 1992, when he met a Cajun man while cooking for rodeo finals in Biloxi, Mississippi. "I couldn't understand a word he said most of the time, but he made some gumbo one afternoon when it was just me and him, and I told him that might just be the best stuff I ever had in my whole life."
Much like Ladd Drummond, Kent works in a world lost on most, laboring at a trade that's as old and quintessentially American as gumbo itself. Being a chuck wagon chef, he's cooked on ranches from south Texas to Canada. The longest he's spent at one time on a ranch was six weeks, feeding three meals a day, moving camp every two days with a team and a wagon. He cooks in environs so extreme that even Bobby Flay couldn't handle the heat. (According to Kent, "Bobby nearly melted" when they faced off cooking chicken fried steak on Kent's wood stove in 94-degree weather.)
Comfort Food The Cowboy Way features the meals that have brought Kent and Shannon comfort over the years. Between the pages of hearty stews and exceedingly tasty smoking and grilling recipes, you'll also find the fascinating history of a great ranching tradition that dates back to the 1870s. And as for the gumbo, Kent and Shannon enjoy making a big celebratory pot every April before the busy season starts. But take note: "Those old Cajuns sure wouldn't tell you nothin', but they made me understand one thing: don't burn the roux."
- Yields:
- 6 - 8 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 40 mins
- Cook Time:
- 1 hr 40 mins
- Total Time:
- 2 hrs 20 mins
Ingredients
For the Cowboy Cajun Spice:
- 3 tbsp.
smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp.
sea salt
- 2 tbsp.
garlic powder
- 1 tbsp.
coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp.
onion powder
- 1 tbsp.
dried oregano
- 1/2 tbsp.
cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tbsp.
dried thyme
For the Gumbo:
- 1/2 c.
bacon grease
- 1 c.
all-purpose flour
- 1
white onion, chopped
- 1
green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 c.
chopped celery
- 4
garlic cloves, minced
- 4 c.
beef broth, warmed
11/2 pounds andouille sausage, sliced
- 1 tbsp.
hot sauce
- 3
bay leaves
- 1 tbsp.
Cowboy Cajun Spice
- 1 tsp.
dried thyme
- 2 c.
white wine
- 2 lb.
raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 tbsp.
Worcestershire sauce
Cooked white rice, for serving (optional)
Directions
- Step 1For the Cowboy Cajun Spice: Mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl until combined.
- Step 2For the gumbo: Melt the bacon grease in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Slowly sift in the flour and reduce the heat to low. Cook, whisking constantly, until it thickens and is a dark brown color, about 15 minutes.
- Step 3Increase the heat to medium-low. Stir in the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Step 4Increase the heat to medium. Stir in the broth and cook for about 10 minutes.
- Step 5Stir in the sausage, hot sauce, bay leaves, spice mix, and thyme. Continue cooking for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Step 6Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir in the wine, shrimp, and Worcestershire sauce and let the mixture simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Serve warm over rice, if desired.
Tip: This recipe makes more Cowboy Cajun Spice than the gumbo calls for but can be stored in the pantry for 6 months and used for another batch. You can also use it in other recipes where you want to add some Cajun flavor.
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