#howtomakegumbo

I’m going to start things off with the basic bitch of Cajun gumbo: the chicken and sausage. This is the gumbo that The Dreaded Ex and I argued over the most. I want the simple earthy smoked sausage with a healthy glob of potato salad on the side. A Cajun gumbo. City boys from New Orleans want Andouille with a side of Christmas cookie (Creole gumbo recipes use nutmeg and cloves and thyme in their gumbo). Don’t get me wrong, that New Orleans chicken and sausage gumbo is good, but it’s got a complex flavor, and when I’m cold and want to snuggle up to a big bowl of gumbo, I want something that tastes like home, not like a restaurant. This is my tweaked version of the best gumbo recipe I’ve seen, Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme’s recipe for Chicken and Andouille Smoked Sausage Gumbo from his excellent cookbook Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen.

It’s the easiest to make, the hardest to mess up, and pretty much the go-to for everyone from my hometown in Acadiana as soon the weather turns. So as soon as the first cold snap hit, I invited a dozen of my closest friends over for the first gumbo of the year. J-Ross was kind enough to photograph me while I cooked.

A cold curtain of anxiety settled over me as I unpacked my groceries that day when I realized the last time I had made this gumbo was for a group of girlfriends while The Ex was off in Kansas City at his first booksellers conference, too busy to answer texts from his champagne-giddy wife because he was making the acquaintance of the soon-to-be Ms. Mistress. 

So I opened up another bottle of Andre (what can I say, like the fancy stuff) and got to work. And as I seasoned and browned and stirred, the nauseating thoughts about the beginning of the end of my marriage started to melt away. That’s what cooking does for me. It centers me and calms me and I swear, it makes me a better person. Making gumbo is perfect, too—it’s intricate and there are a lot of steps, but it isn’t as hard as everyone seems to think it is. You have to focus enough that you end up with your head in a better place by the time the food is done. And at the end of it all, there’s this great dish and a bunch of smiling faces and things like dreaded exes and mistresses matter just a little bit less than they did at the beginning of the day.

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

1 (2- to 3-pound) chicken, cut up

Salt

Cayenne Pepper

Garlic Powder

1 medium onion

1 medium green bell pepper

1/2 cup flour (plus a few additional handfuls kept handy for adding)

Vegetable oil for frying

About 7 cups Chicken Stock

1 lb. Smoked Pork Sausage

1 tablespoon Minced Garlic

1 bunch Green Onion Tops

Hot Cooked Rice

  Season your chicken pieces with salt, garlic powder, and red pepper. Let come to room temperature.

  Meanwhile, dice onions and bellpeppers; set aside. Cut sausage into coins, about 1 cm thick. I prefer regular smoked sausage to Andouille. The only difference I see is that Andouille is usually not usually as finely ground and I’ve gotten really sweet Andouille (it just depends where it’s from and what kind of wood they use to smoke it), whereas regular smoked sausage tends to be more consistent in that it tastes just regular and smoky. For this gumbo, I used both kinds. I got them at the Publix here in Tallahassee. The only thing that’s important is that you use some kind of smoked sausage over, say, Italian sausage or Bratwursts, etc. You want some smoky flavor to go with the chicken here.

  Pour a few tablespoons of oil to coat bottom of a large heavy skillet and heat to very hot. Fry the chicken in the oil until it is well-browned on both sides. Set aside on paper towels. Fry the sausage in the pan until well-browned. Set aside on paper towels. Carefully pour the hot oil into a glass measuring cup, leaving as many of the browned particles in the pan as possible. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any stuck particles. If you don't have a half cup of oil from the chicken and sausage fat, add vegetable oil until you do. Pour this half cup of oil back into the pan.

  Turn the heat to medium and give the oil a few minutes to get hot. This is a low-heat roux. I suggest cooking it on medium until you are comfortable enough with roux that you can cook it higher. The higher the heat, the faster it cooks, but you run a higher risk of burning it and having to start over. It’s not the end of the world, but you’ll lose the good chicken/sausage grease roux and have the plainer, regular oil roux.

Gradually stir the half cup of flour into the hot oil. Cook, stirring constantly, until the roux turns a dark red-brown to black, about 20 minutes. Be careful not to let it scorch or splash onto your skin.

Remove from heat and immediately add the chopped vegetables, stirring constantly until the roux stops getting darker. Return the pan to medium-low heat and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly and scraping the pan bottom well.

  *See Gumbo Tips on my website for more about how to make roux.

 Meanwhile, place the stock in a soup pot or Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Add roux mixture by spoonfuls to the boiling stock, stirring until the roux is dissolved between each addition. Return to a boil, stirring and scraping the pot bottom often. Reduce heat to simmer and add in the chicken, sausage, and garlic. Simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes, stirring regularly. 

 At this point, you've got to decide what to do with your chicken. My mom and mamere turn off their gumbos before the chicken falls off the bone. As you can tell from the photo above, I like to cook mine longer, until the meat falls off the bones, but when you do this, you have to go back and pick the bones out as best you can before serving. If you have kids eating, I don't suggest it--it's virtually impossible to get all the bones out unless you do some serious straining (wait for my Duck and Sausage Gumbo Recipe for the pleasures of multiple gumbo straining!). Check out the Gumbo Tips for more thoughts on chicken options.

Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over 1-2 scoops of rice (I have an amazing rice recipe on the On the Side page on the website, as well).