Chicken, Andouille, and Shrimp Gumbo

Ingredients

••Meat from 1 whole chicken

••Salt and black pepper

••Ground cayenne pepper

••Cajun Seasoning, I prefer Tony Chachere's

••Gumbo file seasoning

••1 cup oil (avocado, canola or vegetable), don’t use olive oil, too low of a smoke point.

••1 cup flour

••2 medium onions, chopped

••1 green bell pepper, chopped

••6 cloves of garlic, chopped

••2 stalks celery, chopped

••1 or 2 jalapeños, chopped (if you like a little heat)

••14 cups of chicken stock

••2 bay leaves

••1/2 teaspoon thyme

••1-pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices

••1 pound of peeled raw shrimp, tails on

••½ bag of frozen okra (12oz) or if you can find it, fresh is preferred, 6 oz.

Cooking Instructions

If using a chicken, rub it well with oil, then generously season with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning, let sit.

In a cast iron skillet, make a dark roux by slowly browning the oil and flour (equal parts), stirring constantly. When I attempted to make my first roux years ago, I remember asking a friend from NOLA how long it takes, he said, “about the time it takes to drink a 6-pack.” I’m not a big beer guy, so it’s about the time it takes me to drink a bottle of wine. If you don’t drink, I’ve found it’s about two albums, front to back.

When the roux is the color of dark pecans add the onions, green pepper, celery, garlic and jalapeños; cook until vegetables are wilted, about 10-15 minutes.

Add the chicken stock. I usually warm it up in a pot just a bit before adding it to the roux mixture. Next, add the chicken. It’s up to you whether you want to brown the outside of the chicken first. 90% of the time I do, sometimes I throw it in raw, either way, you are good. Add the bay leaves and thyme. Cook over medium heat for 1.5 hours.

Remove chicken, set it aside to cool. While cooling, turn off gumbo, cover it. After about :30 minutes, pull all meat off the chicken, set aside.

Turn gumbo back to medium and add the andouille sausage, as well as the cajun seasoning, gumbo file, cayenne and more salt and pepper, cook for :30 minutes. If ready to serve, add the okra, oysters and their liquor, shrimp and chicken meat. Pro-tip: leave the chicken in big chunks, it will fall apart, so the bigger it starts, the less shredding that will happen. Simmer just until the shrimp becomes pink, ~10-15 minutes. If the gumbo becomes too thick during cooking, simply add more chicken/turkey broth or water.

Serve over rice with your favorite hot sauce, SASO preferably. Laissez les bons temps rouler!