A Stab at Gumbo

Ingredients:

1 whole rotisserie chicken

3 (or so) cups chicken broth

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 onions, finely shopped

2 green bell peppers, finely chopped

5 stalks celery, finely chopped

A lot a tablespoons Cajun seasoning (such as Tony Chachere's), to taste

3 whole bay leaves

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 pound fully-cooked smoked beef sausage, sliced

1 (10 ounce) package frozen sliced okra (the fresh okra at the store was bad!)

3 cups white rice

Louisiana hot sauce, to taste

1.     Begin by making a roux by whisking together the flour and vegetable oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook and stir the mixture, watching constantly to avoid burning, until the roux is a rich chocolate brown color, 25 to 35 minutes.

2.     As soon as the roux has reached the desired color, stir in the onions, bell peppers, celery, Cajun seasoning, and bay leaves, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.

The roux with the "Holy Trinity" of vegetables added: celery, onion, and bell peppers

3.     Pour in the reserved chicken broth, diced tomatoes, and beef sausage, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened, about 1 hour.

4.     Mix in the reserved chicken meat and okra, bring back to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the okra is tender and the flavors have blended, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve over rice.

(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com, ‘Mama Made Em’ Chicken and Sausage Gumbo)

With all of the ingredients added, just about another 30 minutes to thicken up

This was the recipe I used this past Saturday to make my first pot of okra gumbo.  I figured the perfect time to try this out would be for the LSU-Alabama game, with plenty of people coming through the kitchen, the grill fired up, and chicken in the smoker – after all, okra is the people’s vegetable, it would be a shame if I didn’t share it with friends. As it turns out, my gumbo was a much bigger success than Alabama’s kicking game that night.

I cheated a little bit by using a rotisserie chicken and Swanson’s chicken broth, but my kitchen and time budget didn’t quite lend itself to starting from scratch.  I also was forced into using frozen, pre-sliced okra rather than fresh okra, much against my will. But, I must say, everything still turned out just fine. It was no award winning gumbo that a true Cajun would be proud of, but for a first-timer it was impressive.

Served over rice with a side of French loaf 

The most difficult portion of the cooking, and the part I was most worried about, was making the roux.  It required ceaseless attention and constant stirring to avoid burning, but, aside from a tired right arm, it proved to be less of a hurdle than expected. Other than that, there honestly wasn’t much else to it.  Once the roux reached that perfect dark brown, just past the shade of mocha, all that is left is dumping in the other ingredients, a little bit of stirring, and a lot of patience.

An empty pot: the true sign of a success