Sweet rolls and holiday gumbo with Toni Tipton-Martin and Morgan Bolling
The Cook’s Country editors share favorite Southern recipes for the holidays.
Still looking for holiday gift ideas—or something nice for yourself? Start with this gift guide for cooks, or this list for lovers of cocktails, wine, and coffee.
On this week’s podcast, I talked to Toni Tipton-Martin and Morgan Bolling of Cook’s Country magazine. You may know Toni as the author of award-winning books like Jubilee and The Jemima Code, but she’s also the editor in chief of Cook’s Country, where Morgan is an executive editor.
Their hefty new book, When Southern Women Cook, shares the stories of women who built the foundations of Southern food—as well as women who are innovating Southern food today—alongside recipes for angel biscuits, Cajun rice dressing, puffy tacos, Brunswick stew, bourbon balls, and jam cake.
We talked about comforting winter cooking, Southern holiday menus, and the baking projects each of them absolutely must take on before the year is over.
They shared advice, too. Morgan especially recommends leaning on make-ahead options when you’re planning a festive spread: things like cheese straws, dips, and candied pecans can often be made ahead.
And if, for example, you’re excited about making a stunning layer cake, keep other things simple and lean on shortcuts. “Pick where you want to put your energy,” she stresses.
Toni’s family gets in the kitchen together and cooks a pot of gumbo—you’ll find the full recipe below, packed with shrimp, chicken, and andouille sausage. You can prep it through Step 3 in advance to make holiday hosting easier.
Toni’s also known for her sweet rolls—she layers them with Nutella—and recommends the version below, which is fragrant with orange zest and juice. Scroll down for the recipes.
A few recommended recipes and cookbooks
Had to share: Off mic, Morgan recommended these sweet potatoes from Gourmet with an oatmeal cookie (!!) topping
Almond-Raisin Granola (accessible with free trial)
Cowboy Cookies (accessible with free trial)
My Two Souths by Asha Gomez
Deep Run Roots by Vivian Howard
Jubilee and The Jemima Code by Toni Tipton-Martin
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Smoky Chicken, Sausage, and Shrimp Gumbo
Recipe courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen. All rights reserved.
Serves 10 to 14
Total Time: 4¾ hours
Gumbo—the landmark dish that Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou author Melissa M. Martin says is “like a religion” in Louisiana—comes from the word for okra (“gombo”) in West African languages. It’s a full-bodied soup that’s thickened in one of three ways: from the naturally gelling mucilage in okra; from filé, a seasoning from ground sassafras tree leaves introduced to gumbo by Chocktaw Native Americans; or from a dark roux.
It’s a “melting pot dish,” as Stanley Dry writes in the article “A Short History of Gumbo,” published by the Southern Foodways Alliance; it’s one that crosses class and regional barriers.
The first documented references to gumbo in the United States appeared at the start of the 19th century. Okra (or ochra) gumbo and okra soup were often interchangeable terms in early African American cookbooks. They were flavored with ham and a rich broth made from simmering beef or poultry bones. Abby Fisher included a recipe for ochra gumbo in her 1881 book, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking. Her version’s savory and alluring flavor derives from a broth made by boiling a beef shank, and okra is her preferred thickener.
Creole chef, cooking teacher, and restaurateur Lena Richard included a recipe for okra gumbo thickened with both a roux and filé in her 1939 cookbook, though it’s uncommon to work all three thickeners into a single pot. Years later, author and TV chef Leah Chase, the “Queen of Creole Cuisine,” added ham, veal, and sometimes sausage to hers.
For our version, an intensely savory pork-and-chicken stock lays the foundation. We like to use a roux, and we cook the flour dark and fast in preheated oil. The milk chocolate–colored roux gives this gumbo its signature deep, roasted flavor and alluring color. Sourcing Cajun pork products from Louisiana completes the robust, smoky profile.
While this is our recipe, we truly believe the common refrain that “gumbo is personal.” Chances are, if you’re a Louisianian—whether you’re surrounded by brackish bayous on tendrils of land fading into the great gulf or you can trace your Creole ancestry back to the names on crypts in 200-year-old New Orleans cemeteries—you have a family gumbo. You make a version of the one you love so much because that’s the one your loved ones made and because their loved ones did too.
So, some advice if it’s your first time making gumbo: Take your time and enjoy the process. And, after you’ve made it once, improvise with bits of diced ham or crabmeat until the dish is your own.
You will need a 7-quart or larger Dutch oven or a large, heavy-bottomed stockpot for this recipe. You can substitute 3 pounds of mixed bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces for the whole chicken. Making the roux quickly, as called for here, requires constant attention and whisking, so monitor it closely, and be sure to have your prepped vegetables at the ready. We strongly recommend using good-quality Louisiana andouille and smoked sausage, such as those from Jacob’s World Famous Andouille. Bourgeois Meat Market is another good online resource for smoked sausages. In a pinch, you can substitute kielbasa for either or both. The saltiness of the final dish will vary depending on the pork products you use, so liberal seasoning with additional salt before serving may be necessary. Serve over white rice with Crystal Hot Sauce.
1 (3-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded
1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
12 cups chicken broth
2 (12-ounce) smoked ham hocks
3 onions (1 halved, 2 chopped), divided
1½ pounds large shrimp (26 to 30 per pound), peeled, deveined, tails removed, and shells reserved
16 garlic cloves (6 smashed, 10 minced), divided
4 bay leaves, divided
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 green bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
2½ teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 pound Jacob’s World Famous andouille sausage, quartered lengthwise and sliced ½ inch thick
12 sprigs fresh thyme
1 pound Jacob’s World Famous smoked sausage, sliced ¼ inch thick
12 ounces fresh or frozen okra, caps trimmed, cut into ½-inch pieces
8 scallions, sliced thin
1. Pat chicken dry inside and out with paper towels. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in 7-quart or larger Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken and cook, turning as needed, until well browned on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Add broth, ham hocks, halved onion, reserved shrimp shells, smashed garlic, and 2 bay leaves and bring to simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until chicken registers at least 160 degrees in breasts and thighs, 40 to 45 minutes.
2. Off heat, transfer chicken to cutting board and let cool slightly. Pull meat from bones, shred into bite-size pieces with 2 forks, and transfer to bowl; refrigerate meat while finishing stock. Add skin and bones to stock and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until ham hocks are tender, 1 to 1½ hours.
3. Off heat, transfer ham hocks to cutting board and let cool slightly. Strain stock through fine-mesh strainer set over large bowl (you should have about 12 cups stock; add water as needed to make up the difference). Shred ham hocks into bite-size pieces and transfer to bowl with chicken meat (keep refrigerated); discard skin and bones. Skim excess fat from surface of stock using large spoon or ladle; set aside. (Cooled stock and shredded meats can be refrigerated separately for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month; thaw before using.)
4. Heat remaining 1¼ cups oil in now-empty, dry Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until roux is color of milk chocolate, 8 to 14 minutes. (Roux will begin to smoke during final few minutes of cooking.) Reduce heat to medium and add bell peppers, celery, sugar, Creole seasoning, and chopped onions. Cook, stirring and scraping bottom of pot often, until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in pepper, paprika, white pepper, and minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add reserved stock, andouille sausage, thyme sprigs, and remaining 2 bay leaves, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour.
6. Meanwhile, cook smoked sausage in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to plate; set aside.
7. Add okra, shredded chicken and ham, and browned sausage to gumbo and cook, covered, until okra is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Add shrimp and cook, uncovered, until opaque, about 5 minutes. Off heat, skim excess fat from surface of gumbo. Discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, sprinkled with scallions.
Alabama Orange Rolls
Recipe courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen. All rights reserved.
Makes 8 rolls
Total Time: 1¾ hours, plus 3 to 4 hours rising and cooling
You can find pillowy, yeasted rolls filled with orange and sugar served in the bread basket alongside savory foods in many spots in Birmingham, Alabama. It’s likely this trend was sparked by Mrs. Ewing Steele. Steele was hired as the baker of Vestavia Roman Rooms, an elegant Birmingham restaurant that opened in the late 1940s in a former mayor’s Roman temple–inspired home.
She brought her recipe from her past roles working as kitchen manager at an Episcopal church in Texas and at the Officers’ Club at Fort McClellan in Alabama. Steele went on to write two cookbooks, Secrets of Cooking in 1970 and a follow-up, More Secrets of Cooking in 1980.
While they look a lot like sticky buns or cinnamon rolls, orange rolls weren’t served for breakfast or dessert but rather alongside soups, salads, steaks, and the other hearty mains offered at the Vestavia Roman Rooms. The rolls became a staple at multiple clubs and restaurants around Birmingham.
In our version, inspired by the ones served at All Steak Restaurant in Cullman, Alabama, we pack orange into the dough (fresh juice), filling (zest), and glaze (fresh juice). Be sure to zest the oranges before juicing them. We bake these rolls in a dark-colored cake pan to encourage better browning. If you have only a light-colored pan, increase the baking time to 45 to 50 minutes.
Dough
3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (1¾ ounces) sugar
2¼ teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon table salt
½ cup warm orange juice (110 degrees)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and softened
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
¼ cup heavy cream
Filling
½ cup (3½ ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Glaze
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup (1¾ ounces) sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅛ teaspoon table salt
1. For the dough: Whisk flour, sugar, yeast, and salt together in bowl of stand mixer. Add orange juice, butter, egg and yolk, and cream. Knead with dough hook on medium speed until dough comes together, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and continue to knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes longer (dough will be soft).
2. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead until smooth ball forms, about 30 seconds. Place dough in greased large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in volume, 1½ to 2 hours.
3. For the filling: Combine sugar and orange zest in small bowl. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter. Roll dough into 16 by 8-inch rectangle with long side parallel to counter edge. Spread butter over surface of dough using small offset spatula, then sprinkle evenly with sugar mixture. Roll dough away from you into tight, even log and pinch seam to seal.
4. Grease dark-colored 9-inch cake pan, line with parchment paper, and grease parchment. Roll log seam side down. Using serrated knife, cut log into eight 2-inch-thick rolls. Place 1 roll in center of prepared pan and remaining rolls around perimeter of pan, seam side facing center. Cover with plastic and let rise until doubled in size, 1 to 1½ hours.
5. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Bake rolls until golden brown on top and interior of center roll registers 195 degrees, 40 to 45 minutes. Let rolls cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes.
6. For the glaze: Once rolls have cooled for 30 minutes, combine all ingredients in small saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until large, slow bubbles appear and mixture is syrupy, about 4 minutes.
7. Using spatula, loosen rolls from sides of pan and slide onto platter; discard parchment. Brush glaze over tops of rolls and serve warm.
It is 11 degrees in Chicago. That gumbo recipe looks soooo cozy.