turkey sausage gumbo the lazy way

So what do you do, with your leftover turkey?  

For the record, I actually didn't make my turkey in cast iron this year, although I made the sides in cast iron.

I used a roaster oven.  That was very convenient, and left my oven free for other things!

I like the way the turkey turned out, very moist like I like it.

If you want crispy skin, then you do need to brown for 30 minutes in the regular oven.

But anyway, this post is about turkey sausage gumbo.

I was in HEB, which is a local grocery chain, and they were demonstrating this Cookwell and Company gumbo mix.

I liked the sample, so I got a couple of jars.

All you have to do is add your own meat, according to the instructions.

I used leftover turkey and some smoked sausage.

I also added a cup of chicken broth.

I'm letting it simmer in a crock pot now.  Although you can certainly simmer it in a cast iron pot if you want to!

I was banned from posting to the Lodge facebook page!

Yes, you read the title right.  I was banned from posting to the Lodge facebook page!  

And yes, I WILL tell you all about it, on my blog.  After all, they certainly cannot ban me from my own blog.

Many people post to the Lodge facebook page, with questions about their product; Since I use Lodge cast iron on a daily basis, I am very knowledgeable, and can answer many of the questions.

One lady posted that she tried to use the Lodge double burner griddle on her induction stove, and it would not work, because there was not enough contact between the element and the pan, to turn on the burner.  

She stated that she called the Lodge customer service department, who suggested that she "try heating it up very slowly, so it will heat evenly."  

Well obviously, that suggestion did not work, because the burner would not turn on in the first place, let alone heat evenly.

So I explained that they gave her the correct answer, to the wrong question.  

The stated solution was for using the double burner griddle on ELECTRIC stoves, not induction stoves; The employee had misunderstood her question.

Now, as you can see, that was a FACTUAL statement.  It was not in any way slanderous, nor derogatory in nature.

However, the company was offended by that comment, and as a result, permanently banned me from ever posting again.

What was most troubling, was that they didn't bother to tell me.  I figured it out 3 weeks later, when I found that all of my comments had been deleted, and I was no longer able to post.

So I emailed Lodge, to be told "Yes, you have been banned.  Our communications committee decided to ban you after a negative comment about our customer service department."

No apology whatsoever.  

They could have deleted the comment, if they didn't like it.  

Or at the very least, contacted me. 

Does this heinously unprofessional and disrespectful behavior toward a fiercely loyal customer, mean that I will boycott Lodge products?

Not that it would mean anything to them if I did, obviously.

I still have to admit, it is the highest quality cast iron cookware you can buy.

But, I can always buy it from a third party ebay seller.  That way, the company no longer benefits from my purchases.

I realize that the hundreds of dollars I've spent on their product is just a drop in the bucket to them.  

But if this is how they treat someone who has been a loyal customer for years, imagine how they regard someone who has never bought their product!

London Broil made out of shoulder roast

In this post, I made London Broil out of chuck roast.

I had every intention of making it with flank steak this time, but boneless shoulder roast was a lot cheaper, so that it was!

I had a bottle of Tabasco brand steak sauce, which I marinated in for several hours.

The put it under the broiler until it was done on the outside.

It was still rare on the inside, but I liked it that way.

The Tabasco brand made it spicy.  

If you'd rather not have it spicy, then A-1 steak sauce, or worcestershire sauce, would have been just as good.

Dakota Buckaroo marinated ribs

Have you ever tried Dakota Buckaroo marinating sauce?

It's an all purpose marinating sauce, for chicken, beef, or pork.

I wanted to try it on baby back ribs, so I marinated them in this sauce before slow roasting in the oven at 250, in a covered cast iron pot.

After they were done, I removed the ribs, and "reduced" the liquid in the pot, by heating it on the stove uncovered, and adding Wondra flour to thicken. 

Then I poured this thickened sauce over the ribs.

It was good on the ribs, for sure.  However it was not "sweet" flavored, like I'm used to.  It's "zesty".

So I also warmed up some bottled barbecue sauce, and added that too.

I still have some of the marinade left; Maybe I'll try it on burgers.