Colder weather often has me in the mood to cook food that will warm me up. A good chili or stew are always a good choice. Recently, a friend of mine shared a chicken-sausage gumbo recipe he learned from an older gentleman from New Orleans. I attempted the recipe this month and loved the results. One modification I did that I enjoyed was substituting half of the celery with okra.
I hope you enjoy!
Chicken & Sausage Gumbo Recipe
Yield: 10 entrees or 20 appetizers
ROUX
¾ cup canola or vegetable oil
¾ cup All Purpose Flour
VEGGIE MIX (Put everything mixed in a bowl except the garlic)
2 cups yellow onion, medium dice
1 cup celery, medium dice
1.5 cups green bell pepper, medium dice
4-5 white ends of scallions, chopped
1 Tablespoon garlic, chopped
SEASONING MIX (Put everything mixed in a bowl except the bay leaves)
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 whole bay leaves
MEAT
1 lb. andouille sausage, cut into coins on a bias
1 lb. pulled chicken meat (white and dark)
STOCK
5-1/2 cups chicken stock
GARNISH
Chopped flat leaf parsley and green ends of scallions
Cooked white rice
Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
Equipment Needed:
5.5 quart Dutch Oven and 5.5 quart Stock Pot (or another Dutch Ove if you have it)
Long Handled Wooden Spoon
Soup Ladle
Knives & Cutting Board
4-5 bowls for Prep, measuring cups & spoons
Prep/Notes:
- Roux is equal parts flour and water, heated and stirred until a desired color for flavor, it later thickens the dish once liquid is introduced. Gumbo is all about the roux so if you burn the roux, you’ll have to start over, if you undercook it you won’t get the flavor, so the hardest part of this is at the beginning, be prepared.
- Use a long handled wooden spoon to stir the roux, you will most likely discolor the spoon so it can become your gumbo spoon, but it kind of looks cool! You do not want to use anything else, try to avoid splatter when stirring because roux burns are the absolute worst.
- You have a choice to make before you start, either make a homemade chicken stock using a whole chicken and pick the meat afterwards or buy pre-made stock and a rotisserie chicken. You will obviously get more flavor from homemade but if you buy a good pre-made stock you can get away with it. Either way the chicken is cooked in advance and added at the end of the cooking process.
- Don’t plan on eating this the same day you make it. You can but it will simply be better the next day.
- You should have everything prepared and in reach (chopped and portioned out) before you begin the cooking process, there is not time to multi-task, trust me.
- There are many variations to gumbo, so use this as a base and then mess around with the proteins if you wish but keep in mind they go in the pot at their respective times (sausage first, meat later) no matter what you change.
- Have the chicken stock on the stovetop, brought to a boil, then lowered to just bubbling (less than a simmer), keep the lid on, when the time is right you will turn it back up.
- Let’s get started!!!
Cooking Process:
- Make the roux: Pre-heat the Dutch oven on medium heat, add the oil and allow to get to just before smoking. Add the flour ¼ cup at a time to the oil, stirring constantly but never quickly. Once all of the flour is in with the oil reduce the heat to medium-low.
- You will now be stirring the roux for up to 20 minutes, depending on your range and pot. Your will see the roux slowly transform in color from pale to blond, then from blond to tan, then from tan to a peanut butter color. At this time if you stop stirring you might burn it, so if you see little black bits it’s too late, throw it out and start over.
- Once you’re at the peanut butter color and going towards a mocha color, add the mixed veggies (the browning process will stop with this addition) and the spice mixture. Continue to stir for 3-5 minutes, making sure it is combined well.
- Return the chicken stock pot to a boil.
- Add garlic, bay leaves, and sausage, stir for 1-2 minutes.
- Add roux/veggie/sausage mixture to the pot of stock, a spoonful at a time, stirring each time so that the roux is fully dissolved.
- Bring combined mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes
- After 15 minutes, reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.
- And pulled chicken meat, remove from heat, let stand for 10 minutes.
- There will be a layer of oil released from the sausage, you will need to skim that off the top, there will be a decent amount, and you can discard that.
- It’s ready to eat now, but as I mentioned it’s better the next day, so resist if you can or have some now and taste the difference the next day to see what I mean.
- Serve in a shallow bowl, gumbo first, then a scoop of white rice on top. Garnish with parsley and scallions. Hot sauce is optional (Crystal is a New Orleans hot sauce, not too hot, just tangy, and flavorful), as well as file powder, which is hard to find in stores, it’s available on Amazon. File is ground sassafras leaves and gives it an earth flavor and thickens it a bit.
- Try to remove the bay leaves, they are not supposed to be eaten.
- The gumbo isn’t too thick, but once mixed with rice it really comes together, enjoy!!!