Gumbo

I've been having a hankering for gumbo lately. My wife an I were at Fish City Grill a week or so ago so I ordered a cup of gumbo. Unfortunately, it had a burnt flavor; so, I sent it back (something I very rarely do). They replaced it with a cup of crab bisque, which was quite good - but it didn't satisfy my gumbo hankering.

The weather cooled down a bit; so, I decided to make some gumbo. As usual, I looked up several Gumbo recipes and then concocted my own.  So, here is my Gumbo recipe inspired by Alton Brown, Emeril Lagasse, Paula Dean, & Rachel Ray.

BTW, the shrimp and oyster Po'boy's at Fish City Grill are very tasty.

Rub

• 2 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp ground thyme

Ingredients

• ½ cup oil
• ½ cup flour
• 1 onion, chopped
• ½ red pepper, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
• ½ cup water
• 2 boneless (half) chicken breasts (about 1 - 1½ pounds), cubed
• 1 pound cooked andouille sausage, cut into ½-inch slices
• 2 cups frozen okra
• 2 bay leaves

• Cooked rice
• Filé powder

Directions

1. Mix rub ingredients together and then mix with chicken cubes, being sure to coat each cube.  Refrigerate until ready to use
2. To make rue:  In a cast iron (or other heavy) dutch oven, mix together ½ cup oil and ½ cup flour.  Place in oven preheated to 350 degrees and bake 1½ hours, whisking 2 or 3 times while baking.  Rue should be a nice creamy chocolate color.
3. Remove dutch oven from oven and place on stove top over medium heat.  Add onion, pepper, and celery (the holy trinity) and saute until onion is transluant
4. Add stock, tomatoes, and water and whisk thrououghly.  Continue cooking over medium heat, whisking frequently, until thickened.
5. Meanwhile, in a frying pan, fry sausage until browned, remove sausage and add to gumbo
6. Then cook chicken in the oil rendered from the sausage, when cooked through add to gumbo
7. Add okra and bay leaves to gumbo
8. Simmer for 30 minutes (or longer)
9. Remove bay leaves and serve with cooked rice and Filé powder (to sprinkle on top)

Notes

• Kudoes to Alton Brown for the idea of baking the rue - it's so easy to burn when doing it on the stove top
• I prefer red pepper over green, but green pepper will suffice
• Any smoked sausage (like kielbasa) can be substituted; although, I prefer something spicy
• This gumbo is not very spicy, so add some tabasco sauce if you want to spice it up a bit