Saturday, May 14, 2011

DK Challenge: Chicken & Sausage GUMBO

Oh yes, you read that right. GUMBO! This was hard for me to get started. My husband was raised in the south, and on Gumbo, the real stuff. He's made it several times, and it was never "my cup of tea." He did his with shrimp (and I'm allergic to iodine) and okra that was super slimy. I was thrilled to see the "Chicken & Smoked Sausage" recipe. But still, I have some big boots to fill! So here it is my friends! **drum roll please!**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

DARING KITCHEN MAY's CHALLENGE
CHICKEN & SMOKED SAUSAGE GUMBO


~I've added my thoughts in [ ] and bold and blue~

Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) rendered chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil [I used the oil]
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) flour
2 large onions, diced
1 chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.), cut into 10 pieces
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) Basic Creole Spices, or store-bought Creole spice blend [I made mine--come back Monday to see how]
2 pounds (2 kilograms) spicy smoked sausage, sliced ½ inch (15mm) thick
2 stalks celery, diced
2 green bell peppers (capsicum), seeded and diced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme [yeah! from my garden!]
3 quarts (3 liters) Basic Chicken Stock (recipe follows), or canned chicken stock [canned taste great too!]
2 bay leaves
6 ounces (175 gm) andouille sausage, chopped [this CAN be found! I found it with the other sausage/hot dog section at grocery store]
2 cups (480 ml) (320 gm) (11 oz) sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch (15mm) thick slices (or frozen, if fresh is not available) [I used frozen, taste just like fresh to me!]
1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Filé powder, to taste [couldn't find it, so left it out]
Tabasco, to taste [no thank you! it has enough "kick" already]
4-6 cups (1 – 1½ liters) (650 gm – 950 gm) cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice [check back Monday!]
Directions:
1. Prepare homemade chicken stock, if using (recipe below). [I just used store-bough stuff]
2. Prepare homemade Basic Creole Spices, if using.
3. Season the chicken pieces with about 2 tablespoons of the Creole Spices while you prepare the vegetables.
4. Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning. [do not mix the onions with the other veggies--they go in at different times]
5. In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes. [mine turned out to look like refried beans at about 7 minutes, so I added chicken stock to try to fix it and continued to next step]
6. Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes. [again, mine didn't...so just kept going...]
7. Add the chicken to the pot; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
8. Add the sliced smoked sausage and stir for about a minute.
9. Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic, and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.
10. Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
11. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.
12. Add the chopped andouille, okra, and Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper, several dashes of filé powder, and Tabasco, all to taste. [I also took out the big chunks of the chicken and shredded them up with forks and then put them back in--I like the idea of eating gumbo with big chunks of chicken instead of bones]
13. Simmer for another 45 minutes, continuing to skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice. Pass more filé powder at the table if desired.

16 comments:

Farm Fresh Decor said...

That looks so yummy! My hubby loves gumbo. I'll have to try this!
New follower from the hop! Hope you get a chance to stop by my blog as well www.farmfreshdecor.com
Have a great weekend!
Trish

Tina said...

This gumbo looks great! My family loves it! I'll have to try your recipe.
Following you from the hop!

Anonymous said...

Adorable Blog! I love the name the theme and the food!!
My hubby will be glad I found YOU!

Following from super stalker Saturday!

http://luvinmylilmonkeys.blogspot.com/

Renata said...

How exciting to make Gumbo to your "gumbo raised" husband! I bet he loved it!
I remember seeing your spice mix at the forum, that was awesome!
Great job!

Audax said...

You really are daring to make gumbo for your hubby who was "gumbo raised" I'm sure you gave him a run for his money this your gorgeous dish it looks so delicious marvellous work and outcome well done.

Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

Unknown said...

Hi! I'm your newest follower from the hop. I hope you'll check out my blog at http://www.mommychosis.com and follow me back.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Anonymous said...

Looks tasty! Stopping by from the Sunday hop. =) Feel free to check my site out.

~Penny Wise
http://thepennywisechick.com

Anonymous said...

So I'm curious about what you and your gumbo-raised husband thought of this. It looks like it came out great to me!

Monika said...

OH MY WORD does this ever look delicious!!!!!

Unknown said...

I was wondering what your honey thought too. You'll have to let us know.

My parents went to New Orleans on mission trips and dad had to try alligator and gumbo and I guess he liked it.

About your roux - I use flour and margarine to make mine. I've never tried to get it to go brown but it may be because you used oil that it got to looking like it did and didn't get brown. It should have gotten smooth though - just make sure you stir it the whole time.

Tina

PS: The Sunday social music is over on my blog @ Http://givingnsharing.blogspot.com come on over and enjoy!

Amanda- Eating in Winnipeg said...

It's my day for a blog hop, I'd love it if you came over and shared one of your great recipes at savory sunday!! Have a great day :)

Amanda- Eating in Winnipeg said...

Oh my gosh this looks wonderfully tasty! Thanks for linking up to Savory Sundays!!

Jessi said...

That looks so good, I love all of your recipes you've posted!

I'm your newest follower from the SSS. Hope you had a great weekend. :)

Andy said...

Looks great and I love you editing of the recipe.

Denise said...

I love the name of your blog ;-)
My man served 20 years as a Deep Sea Navy Diver, and still works at the base here in Coronado.

Thank you for paricipating in my gumbo challenge - looks as if you had a tasty pot for your captain and kiddies.

Unknown said...

Yum! This was so good!! I loved it!

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