Chicken Gumbo
Gumbo is a stew consisting primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener (the roux), and what Louisianians call the “Holy Trinity” of vegetables namely celery, bell peppers and onions.
Making it tonight for dinner brought back all kinds of memories and tastes of our New Orleans culinary adventures.
Gumbo
: Explore with taste
Recipe type: poultry, vegetables
Cuisine: cajun
Ingredients
- 1 cup All Purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1½ cups Onion (chopped - fine ¼")
- 1 cup Green Pepper (chopped fine ¼")
- 1 cup Celery (chopped fine ¼")
- Above three usually referred to as the trinity in Cajun cuisine
- 3 or 4 Garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 tsp Paprika
- ¼ tsp Cayenne pepper (more or less - use your judgment on heat tolerance)
- ⅔ Bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme (minced fine)
- ¼ tsp Black pepper
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ⅘ cups Chicken stock
- 2 Andouille Sausages (8" links cut ¼" thick and then halved)
- 2 lbs Boneless chicken (thigh, or breasts)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400/425 F.
- Place flour in a large oven-proof skillet and spread out evenly. Then, place skillet on middle rack. Bake for about 45 minutes. Near the end, stir flour frequently until light brown in color. When ready, remove the flour from pan immediately (to stop it from continuing to cook) and place in a bowl to cool.
- While flour is cooling prepare the onions, celery, and green pepper (also known as trinity). Mince the garlic and thyme and chop the Andouille sausage. Heat oil in large pot at medium heat. Sauté onions, celery green pepper untill soft, stirring frequently. Add garlic, thyme, paprika, bay leaf, salt, pepper and cayenne. Mix well.
- Add 2 cups of chicken broth and bring to a light simmer. Add the chicken. Cook the chicken for 15-20 minutess. When chicken is fork tender, remove it from the pot. Allow chicken to cool, then shred and set aside. Turn the heat down to low.
- Whisk together in small amounts, the chicken stock with the cooled flour. Continue to add chicken stock to the flour until all is incorporated. Roux should be a cake batter-like consistency.
- Turn the heat up to medium, and slowly add roux to the pot. Stir and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Add the chicken and the Andouille sausage to the gumbo. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes so the gumbo can thicken. Serve as is or with white rice.
Notes
The roux takes about 45 min to 1 Hour to make. Start the preparation ahead of time; as it also needs time to cool (1+ hour more). A roux is usually made with flour and a fat, butter or oils in equal parts; this recipe eliminates the fat and reduces the calorie count.
You can substitute chicken with shrimp, lobster, crayfish, pork or beef leftovers; use your imagination.
You can substitute chicken with shrimp, lobster, crayfish, pork or beef leftovers; use your imagination.
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