Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

When it gets cold, this is the dish I want to fill my belly. My Mom told me I couldn't make a good chicken and sausage gumbo, without the bones, but the key is a good chicken stock.  I make my own. 

Ingredients:

• 2 C. of chopped onions
• 1 C. of chopped bell pepper
• 1 C. of chopped celery
• 6 cloves of mined garlic
• 1 bunch of green onions finely chopped
• ½ C. of fresh parsley finely chopped
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 lbs of smoked sausage cut into semi circles
• 1 (32oz.) bag of frozen okra
• 2 cans of Rotel
• 12 C. chicken stock
• 4 C. of water
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T. of salt
• ½ T. of black pepper
• 1 T. of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• ½ t. cayenne pepper
• 1 C flour
• 1 C vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then dust with flour
2. In cast iron pot, brown chicken in ½ cup of veggie oil
3. Remove Chicken and let rest
4. Add other ½ cup of oil, and make roux with oil and flour over medium high heat until the color of dark peanut butter
5. Add onions, bell peppers, and celery and cook until limp
6. Add garlic for 1 minute
7. Add okra and cook for 30 min
8. Add Rotel then transfer to a gumbo pot
9. Add chicken stock, water, sausage, salt, pepper, Creole Seasoning, and cayenne
10. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 ½ hours
11. While gumbo is cooking cut chicken into 1inch chunks
12. Add Worcestershire sauce and chicken
13. Cook for ½ hour
14. Add green onions and parsley and cook for 10 minutes
15. Serve with rice

Tips and Tricks:

• If you don’t have a cast iron pot you can make a roux in a heavy bottomed pot instead. The trick is to stir constantly. You can NOT multi-task during this step. This is where the base of flavor for your gumbo comes. Be careful to cook the roux at least 10 minutes, because you are browning the chicken first, the roux starts darker than normal.
• I use Bryan Cajun Smoke Sausage in my gumbos. It has a soft casing that absorbs some of the gumbo. Yum!
• Making your own chicken stock for this recipe is cheaper and tastes better.  Follow my link to find out how I make mine. 
• This gumbo always tastes better the next day, so make some room in your refrigerator. The flavors get to “marry” (as 9^th ward Gloria says) as they sit over night.