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Sunday, June 19, 2016

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo




Recipe

Gumbo in a '40's era Wagner MagnaLite Dutch oven and cornbread.
Gumbo is a traditional Louisiana food.  There are as many different ways to prepare it as there are people who prepare it.  Chicken and andouille sausage is a standard, but many use game meats, like duck and sausage (one of my all-time favorites), and seafood such as shrimp and/or crawfish.  Rabbit, squirrel and even deer can be used.  Some folks like to add okra to their gumbo, but not all.  Okra is more common in Creole style gumbo than in Cajun style.  I like them both.  Gumbo takes a while to make, so don’t get in a hurry, but you have to manage your prep time for cutting up vegetables and de-boning the chicken.  
Boil your chicken in a large Dutch oven, covered in water.  You can add some seasoning if you wish but not too much because this will make the chicken stock you will use in your gumbo.  I find a couple shakes of Tony’s is all I need.  You want to boil it and set it to simmer until the meat is ready to fall off the bones.  At least an hour.  Some folks cut their chicken up to cook it but I boil it whole.  You will probably have to add water to keep the chicken submerged.Once it’s done take the chicken out and let it cool a little so you can pull the meat off the bones.  Once you have removed all the bones and skin cover or refrigerate your chicken meat.  SAVE THE STOCK.  I keep the stock in the pot with a lid on it. 
 
The two most important elements of Cajun gumbo, and many other Cajun dishes, is the “Holy Trinity”; onion, bell pepper and celery, and the other is a roux.  It is advisable to cut up your trinity before you begin heating your pot.  Use one large white onion, one large or two small bell peppers, I like to use one red and one green for color, and a small handful of celery stalks, leaves and all.  If you want okra you can cut it into thick slices.  Once you have your trinity cut up into small cubes, put it all in a bowl and cover it or place it in the ‘frig.  Keep your okra separate until you add it because it gets slimy.

There are also different styles of roux, but the basic roux is flour cooked in equal parts of oil; one cup of flour cooked in one cup of oil.  There are different types of oil you can use, but DO NOT use olive oil.  Its smoke point is too low and it will give your gumbo a terrible flavor.  You can use Crisco, lard, peanut oil, blended vegetable oil or corn oil, but I prefer to use bacon grease.  Every time I cook bacon I pour the excess grease into a cup that I store in the refrigerator.  Nothing goes to waste.  

The trick to making a roux is to slowly add the flour into the oil and cook it over a medium heat in a big Dutch oven.  Using cast iron is the best way to ensure you get an even distribution of the stove’s heat to the entire bottom of your Dutch oven.  If you don’t get even heat you will not get a good roux.  Adjust the heat as you go along to keep the oil from smoking too much. Do not add any seasoning to the flour at this point, that all comes later.  I spread the flour out evenly into the oil and stir it, and stir it, and stir it… actually, you never stop stirring the roux the entire time you are cooking it.  That means you need to have your oil and your flour at hand because you cannot walk away from the roux.  You want to reach a nice, even consistency with the texture of the flour and oil mixture, something akin to creamy peanut butter.  You can add oil and/or flour as you go to get that consistency.  As you cook the flour it will darken slowly.  Adjust your heat as needed.  It is up to you how dark you like your roux to be, just don’t burn it.  If you smell burned oil and flour, you need to start over.  Burned roux is a sin and making anyone eat it is punishable by hell fire.  I like to get my roux to the color of ground beef.  

Once you are satisfied with your roux you add the trinity vegetables (and okra) and sauté them in the roux until the onions begin to clear.  Do not let the mixture stick to the bottom of the pot or it will burn.  Once you have the vegetables thoroughly mixed in the roux and starting to sauté you can add a ladle or two full of chicken stock, just to keep it from sticking at first, then slowly add more stock as the vegetables cook until you have a stew.  Now you can add some seasoning if you wish, but you don’t need much.  I usually use a little cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper, and that’s it.  By now the aroma of the gumbo is really at its peak.  Let the gumbo simmer on low heat while you slice up your andouille sausage into bite size pieces.  Then, add your chicken and your sausage and enough stock to cover it all and give it the consistency of thick soup.  Let it simmer on low heat for at least 45 minutes to an hour.  During this time, you make the rice that you will serve your gumbo over.  You can also make French bread and potato salad, if you want a real Cajun meal.

When your rice is done and your gumbo is ready, serve your gumbo over a bed of rice in a deep dish or bowl.  You can garnish it with sliced scallions and/or fresh cut parsley.  A big slice of homemade cornbread or a flakey slice of French bread and a little bowl of potato salad will have you wishing for Cajun country in no time.  

Bon Appetit!  Ma, yah, sa se bon!