Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Qualifier: this isn't low fat (although we have changed the recipe for ourselves for
low fat eating now), and it's not a commercial or
restaurant recipe of any kind. It's what my mom and my husband's mom cooked for us as
children and their moms cooked in our small towns in South Louisiana. It's Cajun gumbo.
First, you make a roux.
1 cup flour
1 cup oil
Heat oil in heavy iron pot. Add in flour slowly, mixing and stirring constantly, browning
but not allowing to burn. You have to stir
non-stop, scraping to keep it from sticking. The brown you want is about the color of
coffee with a spoon of cream. At that point, throw in a handful of ice to stop the cooking
process, and then put the roux off to the side. (Careful when you throw in the ice. It
steams and may splatter.)
3-1/2 to 4 pounds chicken, cut up
1 pound smoked or fresh sausage (preferably pork) sliced thin
2-3 small pieces Tasso (if possible) (a dried smoked ham)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper (green pepper), chopped
2 stalks celery (outer stalks of a bunch are best), chopped
28 ounces chicken stock
Salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
Brown chicken, sausage and Tasso lightly, dropping browned meat on paper towels or some
other absorbent after, to take up grease. In drippings, saute onion/bell pepper/celery
well. In 5 qt. saucepan, put chicken stock with equal parts water, and bring to boil. Add
about half of roux mixture to boiling water, dissolving and mixing together. Add in
chicken/sausage/Tasso and onion/bell pepper/celery. Season to taste. Allow to cook for
about 5 minutes. Then, add in remainder of roux in small portions until gumbo is
consistency you desire. Let simmer on low heat for about 35 minutes. Put cold
water in sink to level where pot will sit without water going anywhere near over the top.
Set hot pot of gumbo in sink for 5-10 minutes, which causes grease to rise to top. Skim
grease off. Warm again and eat.
Serve over white rice. Serves four (or 1 Cajun :)
For filet gumbo, you add the filet (sassafras powder) to the bowl at the table in very
small amounts. You can also add peppered vinegar or Tabasco at this point.
For okra gumbo, you can add about 2 cups chopped okra to the chicken and brown them
together, and then continue with the recipe as before.
For shrimp in the gumbo, you add in very small peeled shrimp or dried shrimp at the point
where you put the gumbo simmering.
mcl (Missouri)
Source: