Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

From ForWhateverWiki

This is the way my mother taught me to cook gumbo. There's no right or wrong way...everybody has their own recipe. This is the way my family and friends like it. I've had people cook gumbo with about 70 ingredients and I thought it was awful. This is a very simple and delicious recipe. Feel free to play around with it and make it what you want. But don't be offended if I always prefer my own creation!

I use Andouille sausage in my gumbo. However Andouille can be a very fatty sausage that can cause some digestive problems for some people. I handle that by pre-cooking the sausage to get some of the fat out (described below).

Roux - I'm not going to cover how to cook roux here. Search the internet...the recipe is everywhere. I found this great blog entry on exactly this subject for you. Here is a link to a video of someone making a roux. You will need a DARK roux for gumbo. You can also cheat and buy dark roux on the internet if you don't have the time/patience to make it yourself...I prefer Savoie's brand.

If you don't use bone-in chicken, please use a chicken stock made with chicken bones, as this adds much to the flavor.

Since I don't measure my ingredients when I cook, I'm going to be vague as I write this recipe up, then try to go back and add in amounts and specifics as I go.

This recipe assumes you are cooking the gumbo 2 - 3 days before you plan to serve. While this is not required, it is highly recommended because gumbo develops flavors as it sits in the fridge and is at its peak on day 3.

1 lb. andouille sausage (I like Savoie's brand, you can use any smoked sausage that you like)
Chicken (I always prefer chicken on the bone...I use thighs, but you can use any chicken or turkey you want)
Roux - about 2 cups 
2 Onions
1 Bell pepper (I prefer yellow or red)
Salt
Cayenne pepper
Oil
Garlic powder
Thyme
File'
Cooked medium grain rice

1. I slice the andouille ahead of time and simmer it in a little water to melt the fat. After it has simmered for a while and much of the fat has been rendered, I remove the sausage from the pot and I continue to simmer the liquid (water + fat + seasonings) until it is concentrated. When it is pretty concentrated, I put it in the refrigerator until the fat solidifies. I can then discard the fat and add the seasoned liquid back to my gumbo when I add the sausage before serving. This step can be done ahead of cooking the actual gumbo.
2. Rough chop your onions and peppers and put them in a blender or food processor with a little water and blend until slushy. I call this goop. It can be done ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen.
3. Season your chicken pieces liberally with salt and cayenne pepper.
4. Get a large amount (2 - 3 quarts, you may need more) of either hot water or chicken broth handy and ready to pour into the pot.
5. Put some oil in your pot and brown the chicken pieces, removing them from the pot after browning. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of oil from the pot. (No need to be too worried about this, because you'll skim the fat off the gumbo after it's cooked.) If the chicken has skin on it, remove it before adding it back to the pot.
6. Pour your onion/pepper slush into the hot oil and cook for 5 minutes to get the raw taste out of the onion. Make sure to loosen up the yummy bits from the bottom of the pot. The veggies will start to get dried to indicate when it's time to start adding the roux.
7. Start adding roux to the pot, stirring constantly. At this point, you are melting the roux into the vegetables, but you don't want to "cook" the roux anymore...it will burn. You may need to add {+small+} amounts of water to the pot at this point to keep the roux from burning. It is important to use hot water, or else the roux will separate.
8. Once the roux is melted into a smooth sauce, start slowly adding water/broth to thin the sauce. Add a little bit of water at a time and stir to incorporate. Keep adding water/broth until you have a soup-consistency liquid. Make sure the roux is completely dispersed in the broth at all times. You may need a whisk to get it incorporated.
9. Let the gumbo broth come to a gentle boil.
10. Add the chicken back to the pot and reduce the heat so that the gumbo is just simmering. While it is boiling, a skin will form on top of the gumbo. This is normal, just stir it back in.
11. Let the gumbo simmer and make your house smell wonderful for the next hour or so. Once you are sure the chicken is completely cooked, start tasting the gumbo and adjust seasonings as needed. You will almost certainly need to add salt and other seasonings. Use your judgement to decide how much. If you are adding sausage back in, remember that it will add some salt and pepper, so don't overdo it at this point. Usually, the only spices I add are salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and a little bit of thyme. Keep tasting and adjusting the seasoning until you are satisfied with the taste (it will improve over the next couple of days in the refrigerator).
12. NOTE: Sometimes I feel like the roux flavor isn't strong enough. To add more roux: in a separate saucepan, dissolve some roux in hot water until it is completely dissolved and about the same consistency as the gumbo, then mix it into the gumbo pot. This will probably require re-seasoning after you do this.
13. I like to simmer the gumbo until the chicken begins to fall off of the bone. Since I usually serve the gumbo at parties, I always make sure the bones and cartilage are out of the pot before serving.
14. Once cooked, I separate the chicken from the broth and store them in separate containers in the fridge. Once cool, I debone the chicken and make sure to remove the cartilage and other inedibles.
15. I skim the fat off of the gumbo broth after a day in the fridge.
16. Once the fat is skimmed from the broth and the meat is deboned, mix the two back together for one more day in the fridge.
17. When you're ready to serve, gently reheat the gumbo (a crock pot works wonderfully for this), adding the sausage and the liquid from the sausage after the fat has been removed. (NOTE: If you are serving guests who don't eat pork, separate some of the gumbo out before adding the sausage and it's liquid.)
18. Cook some medium grain rice (it should be sticky).
19. To serve, put some hot gumbo in a wide shallow bowl, put a scoop of rice on top and then sprinkle a dash of file' on top. Enjoy with a good quality French bread on the side.

Chopped Andouille Simmering Andouille Onions & Peppers, blended - "Goop" Chicken for the Gumbo Chicken seasoned with salt and cayenne Browning chicken Chicken all browned, but not cooked through Onions/peppers added to pot after chicken removed This is the roux I use - note the "Dark" label on the left As I start adding the roux and "melting" it down into the onions/peppers

The roux is mostly melted and getting smooth. During this time, add a little hot water to keep the roux from burning
After more liquid is added and broth is thinned down And now the broth is thin like soup instead of really thick
Chicken has been added back to the pot and will now simmer for a while
Gumbo broth separated from the chicken Chicken has been deboned
After fridge storage, Chicken and sausage have been added back and reheated
Dinner is served! The powder on the rice is the file'