Gumbo with chicken, sausage and shrimp

Serves 6-8. Prep and cooking time is about 1.5-2 hours. It may seem like a lot of ingredients but there are a lot of seasonings. Hands down one of the best meals I have ever made!

INGREDIENTS

1 red bell pepper (or any color)
1 medium yellow onion
3 stalks celery

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder,

¾ tsp paprika

¾ tsp black pepper

1 pkg andouille sausage

6-8 chicken thighs

1 lb med or large raw shrimp (peeled, deveined, tails off)

6 C water

¾ C butter (1 1/2 sticks)

3 T olive oil

¾ C all-purpose flour

3 T chicken bouillon

2 T cajun seasoning

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Butter and olive oil for cooking

3 C uncooked white rice

4 1/2 C water

DIRECTIONS

Using my large dutch oven (or a big pot, about 8 quarts), I cooked 6 whole chicken thighs (probably should have used 8) in about 6 cups of water with 3 T chicken bouillon, 2 T of Cajun seasoning (be careful with this stuff because it can be heavy in salt) and 1 tsp of Italian seasoning.  

Prep:  Chop into small pieces (less than ¼”) a red bell pepper, a medium onion and 3 stalks of celery.  Set aside in a bowl.  Mince 3 fresh cloves of garlic, set aside in a bowl.  Slice into coins a package of good andouille sausage (or polska kielbasa), set aside in a bowl.  Thaw in water 1 pound of medium to large shrimp (peeled, deveined and tails off). Be sure to rinse the shrimp a few times to remove the preservative smell and any debris such as shell pieces, etc.

Cook about 3 cups of white rice. -- 3 cups rice, 4.5 cups water, put in pot, cover, cook on low for about 25 minutes or till you smell it.  Leave the lid on the whole time, do not stir it, look at it, etc.  Just check on it after 22 min.  Then turn off the heat when it appears done, leave the lid on and let it alone till time to eat.

I made a rue with 1.5 sticks of butter (¾ cup) and about 2-3 T of olive oil and ¾ cup all-purpose flour in a shallow saucepan.  I cooked it on a medium heat until it was a nice brown color, stirring constantly so it didn’t burn.  This took about 25 minutes. Do NOT salt it. I put the rue in a bowl and set aside. 

In the same saucepan, I put 2 T butter and a few dashes of olive oil (helps keep the butter from burning) and I sauteed the red bell pepper, onion and celery.  I seasoned the veggies with 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ¾ tsp paprika and ¾ tsp black pepper - no salt!  I sauteed them for about 7 minutes then I added 3 minced cloves of fresh garlic.  Sauté for about 1 min.  Dump it all into the pot of the cooking chicken.

In the same pan, add 1 T of butter, add in the smoked sausage and sauté till it’s browned.  Set aside.  Pour about a cup of the chicken broth into the pan to deglaze it, pour it all into the pot. Put the pan in the sink.

Around this time, the chicken should be done (about 45 minutes).  With some tongs, remove the chicken.  Remove the skin (should easily come off) and using a couple of forks remove as much meat from the bone as possible.  Roughly chop the chicken meat and put back into the pot.  Set the bones and skin aside - use to make broth or give the skin and knuckles to your dog and throw away the bones. 

Once all the chicken is added back, give the rue a stir until it’s smooth and then pour into the pot.  Add in the sausage.  Stir. Let simmer on low heat (I have an electric stove that goes from 1-10, I set it on 3) until it thickens and all the flavors have married, about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Give it a taste to see if it needs anything. If you want it spicier, then add some cayenne pepper.   The gumbo will have a soupy consistency but slightly thickened from the rue.  Add in the raw shrimp being careful not to add any of the excess water from it.  Give the gumbo a few stirs, the shrimp should cook within 3-4 minutes (curls up and turns white).  

Serve hot over rice, be sure to get a few spoons of the sauce/broth/soup, whatever you want to call it, that’s where the flavor is at.  Yum!!  If I had thought of it sooner, some hot cornbread would go good with it.  I like sweet cornbread, but make what you like.