Gumbo

I may not be French, and I may not be Cajun, but I’m someone who likes good food and gumbo marries all that is good about cuisine in a single entree. This is a roux-based stew that is not only spicy, but bursting with an array of diverse flavors that keep your taste buds guessing.

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs Chicken – boneless and skinless, thighs taste best
  • 1 lb Smoke sausage – Andouille preferred but Kielbasa in a pinch
  • 0.5 lbs Shrimp – small, peeled, deveined, cooked
  • 2 oz Olive oil
  • 0.5 cup Flour
  • 5 TBL butter
  • Beef Base
    • Either 32 oz Beef stock (or beef broth), or
    • 5 Beef bouillon cubes and 32 oz hot water
  • 14 oz can Stewed Tomatoes – with juice
  • 2 oz Worcester sauce
  • 2 cups Okra – frozen, sliced package that’s thawed
  • 1 Onion – diced
  • 1 Bell pepper – green, seeded and diced
  • 4 Green onions – chopped thin, both parts
  • 8 Garlic cloves – minced
  • 3 Celery stalks – chopped
  • 0.5 cups Parsley – chopped
  • Kosher salt and black pepper

Process

  1. Mise en Place – measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
  2. Pat chicken dry with paper towel and generously season both sides with salt and pepper.
  3. Grill or saute the chicken and sausage in a Dutch oven until fully cooked.
    1. Cut sausage into 0.25″ thick slices.
    2. Either pull the chicken apart using two forks, or cut into small pieces.
  4. Make the Roux
    1. Add the bouillon cubes to the hot water.
    2. Heat a dutch oven (or use the one you used to cook the meat) over Med-high heat.
    3. Add oil and let warm.
    4. Sprinkle in flour and stir. Cook until lightly toasted.
    5. Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, and celery. Saute for ~10 mins, stirring frequently.
    6. Add Worcester sauce, then some salt and pepper. The roux will stiffen, but stir with a gravy whisk until all the lumps are worked out.
    7. Add half the parsley and cook ~10mins.
    8. In stages, add the beef base (~4 oz each time). Repeat this step 4 times, each time working out the lumps.
    9. Add the remaining beef base.
  5. Add the chicken and sausage and being to boil.
  6. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 45 mins.
  7. Add tomatoes and okra, and simmer 1 hour.
  8. Spoon off oil that floats to the top from the meat and okra.
  9. Just before serving over rice, add the green onions, and remaining parsley.
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