A simple Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Recipe
A nod to Emeril and The Collins for their unwitting input.
Ingredients
·
1 tbs and ½ cup, vegetable oil
·
1 lb, smoked sausage, sliced into ½ inch coins.
o
Andouille if possible, but any good kielbasa
will work.
·
3 lbs, chicken thighs, with skin, rinsed and pat
dried
·
½ lb, cubed, cooked ham
·
¾ cup, all-purpose flour
·
2 cups, chopped onions
·
1 cup, chopped celery
·
1 cup, chopped bell pepper
·
3 tbs, chopped garlic
·
1 lb, okra
·
2 tbs, fresh parsley
·
8 cups, reduced sodium chicken stock
·
1 cup, water
·
3 tsp, sea salt
·
1 tsp, black pepper
·
1/8 tsp, cayenne pepper
·
1 ¼ tsp, thyme, fresh, if you can get it
·
3 bay leaves
·
1 tbs filé powder
·
Scallion tops
1.
Prep the “Holy Trinity” and put in a bowl, ready
to use, (it’s the onions, celery, and pepper), with the parsley, garlic, and
cubed ham.
2.
Prep your spices, too.
3.
Preset your oven to 200°.
Trust me on this one…
4.
In a heavy stockpot, heat 1 tbs of vegetable oil
on medium heat and add the sausage. (We
have a cast iron pot that we have dubbed “The Secret Weapon”. It’ll totally kick your pot’s ass.),
a.
You want to brown the sausage and render a
little of the fat into the pan.
5.
Once browned, remove the sausage with a slotted
spoon and set aside. You’ll be re-adding
it again soon.
6.
Add the chicken thighs and brown them nicely,
about 10 – 12 minutes.
a.
You’re basically rendering the fat from the
thighs to add to the roux.
7.
Once the chicken has been browned, place them in
an oven-ready dish and place in the oven to keep them warm.
The Roux!
Ok, here’s the tricky part.
The roux is basically a stock, simple, but at the same time crucial and
easy to screw up.
8.
Turn the heat down to medium / low
9.
Add the remaining ½ cup of vegetable oil to the
sausage and chicken renderings.
Careful! Don’t splatter…
10. Slowly
add the ½ cup of flour
11. Stir
constantly, but slowly.
a.
If you don’t take your time with this, you can
burn the roux and it’ll taste like you’ve burned the roux.
12. After
about 15 – 17 minutes, the roux should be about the color of milk
chocolate. This is good!
13. Add
the bowl of vegetables and ham that you had set aside earlier.
a.
I have tried to chop the vegetables while making
the roux. It doesn’t work out well…for
anyone.
14. Cook
the vegetables, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes.
a.
The vegetables and ham should be cooking and
coated with the roux.
15. Re-add
the sausage
16. Stir
in your spices
17. Slowly
add your chicken stock and water, stirring them in.
18. Bring
your concoction to a boil
19. Re-add
the chicken
20. Reduce
the heat to a simmer and let go for 1 ½ hours.
a.
If you want to add shrimp, you can do this with
about ½ an hour left in the boil.
21. Remove
from heat.
22. Remover
the chicken and allow to cool on a plate.
23. Remove
the bay leaves
24. Debone
the chicken, remove the skin, and shred the meat. (heh-heh, just sounds terrible.)
25. Reintroduce
the chicken to what is now, technically, gumbo.
26. Stir
in your filé powder
27. Allow
the gumbo to sit for 5 minutes and you’re ready to serve this over rice!
Not super difficult, and there are a few hours out of your
life, but you have to trust me that this is a very good gumbo and you’ll be
happy you made it.
