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And The Winner Is… Gumbo! « What We’re Eating – A Food & Recipe Blog
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

And The Winner Is… Gumbo!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Eater rating: 4.6 / 5  4.6

For the past several days we’ve been feasting on spicy gumbo made with shredded chicken, smoked sausage, and fresh chicken stock. The gumbo was served with jasmine rice and garnished with file powder.

Drum roll please….. (imagine a drumroll… i don’t know how to type one!)….GUMBO! That’s right! For the past few weeks we’ve been letting the people tell us what they want to see me cook in our interactive side poll. and finally i’ve done it. Without any further interruptions, I give you…. Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo!

An Original Recipe, by Amanda
Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

For Stock
1 3-4 lbs whole chicken
2 carrots, rough chop
2 celery stalks, rough chop
1 lg onion, rough chop
1 tbsp black peppercorns, whole
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried basil
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 bottle red wine
lots water

Gumbo:
shredded chicken, from the stock
1 pound smoked sausage, cut in half moons
1 lg red bell pepper, diced
1 lg yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
10 cloves of garlic, minced
2 10 oz cans Rotel tomatoes
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
1 cup dry red wine
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 bayleaf
2 tsp cayenne pepper (or less if you're a whimp 🙂 )
1 10 oz bag sliced frozen okra, or sliced fresh okra
10 - 12 cups stock, plus extra if necessary
kosher salt and black pepper
file powder (optional)

Make the stock: Add the chicken, carrots, celery, onion, peppercorns, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, bayleaves, salt, and wine into a large stock pot. Add enough water so the ingredients are covered by about an inch of water. Bring the stock pot to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat to med-low and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the chicken meat falls off the bones when you try to pick it up. At this point, remove the chicken from the liquid using tongs, then pick the meat off the bones and set the meat aside. Once all the meat has been removed from the bones, place the carcass back into the stock pot and allow the bones to continue to simmer for another hour. After an hour, strain the stock through a collander into a large heat resistant bowl or another stock pot. Throw away the veggies and bones and reserve the stock. Most likely you'll have more stock than you need for this recipe, but hey! who doesn't love homemade chicken stock sitting in the freezer.

Start the gumbo: Dry out the stock pot and replace it on the stove over medium heat. Add the smoked sausage and saute the sausage for about 5-7 minutes to render out some of the fat. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside. Melt the butter in the pot. The butter will get frothy as the water cooks out of it. Once this has happened, stir in six tbsp of flour to make the roux. Rouxes are notorious for burning if you walk away from them, so gently stir the roux almost constantly, until it turns a dark, nutty shade of caramel. After you've acheived this color add the diced onions, celery, and bell pepper to the pot - this will stop the roux from further caramelization. Saute the veggies in the roux for about 10 minutes or until the veggies are soft and the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic, cayenne, bayleaf, thyme, basil, and oregano. Stir and continue to saute for another minute. Deglaze the pan with the cup of red wine then add the rotel tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the pot is simmering, shred the reserved chicken meat into bite-sized pieces. Add the sausage and shredded chicken to the pot. Stir, then add 10-12 cups of chicken stock or enough so that the ingredients are covered by a couple inches of stock. Bring the gumbo to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to med-low and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Add the frozen okra directly to the pot (or fresh if that's what you've got). Continue to simmer the gumbo for another 30 minutes, or until the okra is soft and has turned a shade of muted olive green, stirring occasionally. Taste the gumbo, then add salt and pepper as necessary. Continue retasting and reseasoning until the gumbo is to your liking. Serve over long grain, jasmine, or basmati rice and offer file powder on the side, as both an extra thickening agent and a seasoning. If you do offer file, DO NOT add the file to the entire pot of gumbo - file doesn't like to be cooked, and chances are, you're going to be reheating some of this goodness! Enjoy!

21 comments so far:

  1. Ros says:

    Yay -gumbo! I voted for gumbo because you never find it over here and I want to have it again. All the recipes I’ve seen apart from yours refer to this mysterious ‘creole seasoning’ and I always think to myself “What the heck is that?”

    This recipe looks great and I think I can get everything except the file powder. I guess Rotel tomatoes can be substituted with another type of tomato, right?

  2. Amanda says:

    sure Ros! you can just add canned diced tomatoes…. and you may want to saute in some extra jalapeno, since that’s an ingredient in rotel tomatoes. i have to shake off the shame of adding rotel, but hey. it works, and i got that trick from a restaurant in lousiana that is known for there gumbo… 😛 you really don’t need the file, if you want a thicker gumbo than this recipe produces, all you have to do is make more roux. the more roux, the thicker the gumbo. I just use file so i don’t have to use sooooo much butter…. did i really just say i was avoiding using butter! wow.

  3. Lea says:

    omg yes yes yes yes YES~!

  4. Lea says:

    Ros I can send you file!! =)

  5. akil says:

    A restaurant in Louisiana that is known for their gumbo…?
    Imagine that. (Every restaurant in southern Louisiana is “known for their gumbo”)
    I guess all of that time in Baton Rouge is paying off.
    Geaux Tigers!

  6. Nicole says:

    Amanda this recipe sounds great and I love how the directions are so detailed and easy to follow!

  7. Heather says:

    I was hoping that you would be roasting that chicken and cutting up the mango for some chutney…. but the Gumbo looks good and it certainly is gumbo weather (sort of) here in Louisiana! Today it is, tomorrow it’s not…today it is, tomorrow it’s not…you get the picture…

  8. Claire says:

    I love gumbo! We just made some and froze it for after Thanksgiving. Ours is not as dark as yours but I’m SURE that it’s becuase we do a low fat version that doesn’t use a true roux. It just bakes the flour until it is dark, no butter. Glad to see you used okra…to me it’s a must! Shrimp is a good addition too! oooo, I wish I had some right now!

  9. Amanda says:

    lea… i’m sure glad we could satisfy you 😉 and you’re a genius! i didn’t even think of sending ros the file!

    akil… i know, ?!? could i have been less specific 😛 i meant to say baton rouge… but that doesn’t really help either huh? wooo hooo… Geaux Tigers!

    Thanks Nicole! sometimes i get a bit long winded in my recipe writing, but i just want people to be able to do it and not be confused! hopefully that’s not confusing… 🙂

    heather, it’s not really gumbo weather here, (it’s been in the 80’s the last few days) but i made it any way! i think i’m gonna make the chicken and mango chutney regardless – it’s just too clever of an idea with our current header 😛

    Claire, we totally froze some of this batch, too. with the intent of eating it in the future. as it turned out, the future was later on in the week. we just defrosted the frozen goods and ate them! i would have loved to put shrimp in…. but i’m POOR! damn san diego prices. i’ve never heard of toasting the flour in the fridge, but it sounds like a good idea!

  10. aria says:

    oh that stock amanda!!! yesyesyes. obviously the gumbo looks fab anything subsiquent would! mmmmmmmm 🙂

  11. Laura says:

    I got to eat the gumbo! Hmmm, child it was good, yeah!
    I can see that I have missed some other yummy treats.
    Amanda, won’t you please come home?! Yes, Tyler you can come too.

  12. Nicole says:

    Amanda, I made this gumbo yesterday (actually I did the stock the day before and then finished the recipe yesterday). It was really good and I had a bunch of that yummy stock left over so I’m looking forward to some soup maybe next week! Thanks for the great recipe 🙂

  13. Trent says:

    Great recipe! I’ve toasted flour in the pan as well as the oven/broiler, and it works pretty well – or just making a slurry with it after it cools and adding that to deglaze after the saute. It has to be pretty well browned to still get a roux flavor, though.
    If anyone is near Vien Dong grocery, I’ve seen reasonably prices Zatarain’s file there. Cheaper than some of the Creole specialty places that prey upon tourists to an extent. Decent andouille as well – it must be because of all the Vietnamese-Americans who move to SD from Louisiana.

  14. Amanda says:

    Thanks aria!!! if i hadn’t spilled like, a half gallon of the stock, i would totally ship you some up in LA….how long could that possibly take to arrive!

    well laura of course i will!!! but you better like dumplings, because that’s all i seem to heat up any more with this stupid schedule!… maybe we’ll do another home cooked meal this week! it’s certainly cheaper all round than going out 🙂

    Nicole! how exciting… i write these recipes and really think that no one will make them and they will just sit there and look pretty. i’m so glad to learn that it actually came out well 🙂 and yes…. i love that stock for soooo many other things than gumbo.

    Thanks trent! it sounds like you’re way more familiar with louisiana than most san diegans are. are you from there? personally, i go to henry’s for my file, because they have it in their bulk spice section and you can get more than you’ll likely use (before it looses it’s zing) for pretty damn cheap. thanks for stopping by!

  15. Trent says:

    Thanks for the file tip! I never thought Henry’s would have it in bulk, what a deal… I lived in New Orleans for about ten years, and moved here a few years ago. Banh Mi have replaced Po’ Boys as my sandwich of choice. No substitute here for fresh crawfish, though.

  16. Amanda says:

    My pleasure, Trent! We just considered Po’Boys a thing of the past and didn’t even try to replace them. How exciting! that we can get something that comes close. I’ve actually read about Banh Mi all over the place (especially at Mmm-Yoso!!!) do you know of any particularly good fish mongers here?

  17. Trent says:

    I get a lot of my seafood at 99 Ranch Market on C-Mesa Blvd., Zion Market on Mercury St. and Vien Dong in Linda Vista. Zion is smaller, and has a great variety and fantastic produce. Look for the shabu-shabu style thin-cut cut lamb for Sichuan hot pot in the frozen dept. Their cross-cut ribs and sliced steak are great for galbi and tabletop grilling. Live oysters are usually 2/$1 at Zion. Despite being Korean-owned, most of the butchers and fishmongers at Zion are Mexican-American. So, you don’t need to speak Korean and even my horrible Spanish helps.
    Vien Dong can be hit or miss, but it’s bigger and last time I was there it looked like they were expanding their crab tanks. I’ve actually gotten crawfish there, but you could tell they were previously frozen. I may not speak the fishmongers’ primary language, but they take the trouble to pour of excess water before weighing my crab. That counts for a lot. They also carry more cajun spices than a typical store.
    99 Ranch has frozen crawfish also, and they’re good for specials on whole fish, duck, filet mignon, and reliable stock bones. The lines can make you crazy at peak hours, though, and the level of business makes it unlikely that they’ll remember you. Let me know if there’s anything in particular you’re looking for.

  18. Amanda says:

    Trent, the 99Ranch is the only one of the places you mentioned that i’ve actually been to… and i’ve been to this one a lot. the 99Ranch is definately a weekly stop for me. I’ve purchased some fish and shrimp from them in the past, but i hesitated on other shell fish like mussels because everytime i’ve picked one up to see if it would close (aka if it was still alive) they never did. I definately don’t want to buy dead shell fish! I’m for sure going to have to check out Zion’s and Vien Dong’s selection soon. Actually, i’m planning on making duck breast for thanksgiving so maybe i’ll have to hit up 99Ranch asap. i’ve never bought any of there non-sea meats 🙂

  19. Trent says:

    Zion and Vien Dong are best on the weekend, when their seafood is in heavy rotation. Zion is better for shellfish, in my opinion – and has some phenomenal produce. Vien Dong is great for cheap herbs and citrus, shallots, etc.
    I don’t usually get up to Mira Mesa on the weekends, but there are a couple of good ones west of the 15 as well. Seafood City – 8955 Mira Mesa Blvd & Lucky Seafood – 9326 Mira Mesa Blvd. Seafood City is Philipino-owned and has a huge selection of seafood, Lucky is Vietnamese and has a great lunch counter as well.

  20. lee says:

    Hey Amanda … found your site through Tastespotting, (http://www.tastespotting.com/), which was highlighted on Lifehacker, one of my daily reads. Anyway, your recipes look fantastic, and the photo of each is great food porn. And it was a bonus to find you also live in SD! Nice … I’m going to make this gumbo for my weekly potluck tomorrow. Sounds like quite a process – I like the sound of that! More work, more reward.

  21. Amanda says:

    thanks lee! i always love when people from SD leave us comments, since we’re relatively new to the area. 🙂 you totally have to let me know how the gumbo goes! if you want a thicker gumbo you can always make more roux in the beginning, but i like to try to make it at least a little bit more healthy!