Chef Mik's Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Gumbo gets its name from the slaves who were brought to Louisiana to work the plantations for the French sometime in the in the late 15 to early 1600’s, those who worked in the big house learned the cuisine of their masters, and in the case of the French one their favorites was bouillabaisse, which the slaves prepared making do with what they had available and one of their chief ingredients they brought with them from the motherland was okra otherwise known as “gumbo” in Western Africa. Gumbo doesn’t really resemble bouillabaisse anymore but has gone on to become an American classic and has been reinterpreted in several way’s sense its inception the most popular being chicken gumbo typically thought of as New Orleans style, which is prepared with the addition of smoked sausage, most commonly andouille sausage which is a very flavorful some what spicy smoked sausage who’s roots can be traced back to the Germans arrival and with them their sausage making techniques

Gumbo is easy enough to make, the trickiest part is the roux but that’s just a question of a little time and patients, you can cook yours on high but I wouldn’t recommend it once you scorch it, you’ll just have to start all over again. So I say why bother, put the time in and take pride in the end result!! You can prep a large batch ahead of time so it is ready to use whenever you need it, you can add it to sautéed vegetables and continue on as normal or just heat it up and add your vegetables, the most common combination is onion, celery, and bell pepper, the so called “holy trinity” (Cajon/ Creole mirepoix), as for the spice mix both Cajon and Creole spice mix are quite similar so we have worked out our own and use it for both, if you would like to try our mix we will list it below, as for the protein you can buy cooked shrimp or you can also poach your own in a simple court bullion ahead of time and use that broth as the basis of your gumbo or use a nice shellfish stock, I think fish stock is fine besides if you leave the tails on the shrimp they will still pick up a little of that flavor if that is what you are looking for, lastly remember gumbo is not intended to be a fancy dish its just meant to be enjoyed, that said today I will be sautéing my shrimp and adding them a la minute

Here at FoodPerfected we offer seafood and chicken gumbo; we also offer rabbit, duck, and alligator, crawfish, and lobster verities. As the name of the dish would suggest we use okra whenever possible regardless if we are preparing the seafood version or not
Spice Mix: (this is enough for two recipes)
3 TBS paprika + 1 TBS smoked papriks
2 TBS garlic powder or granulated garlic
2 TBS onion powder
2 TBS oregano
1 TBS thyme
1 TBS celery seed powdered
1 TBS chili powder (cayenne) or as desired
1 TBS white pepper
1 TBS black pepper
1 tbs salt

Shopping List

Flour

Canola oil

Fish stock

Diced tomatoes

Shrimp, shells removed (I am using tiger)

Crab, shells removed

Oysters, chucked

okra

Parsley

Bay leaves

Spice mix, (see above) 

My Mad Method

To prepare the roux equal parts oil and flour (1.5-2 dl each)

I like to prepare my roux in an iron skillet though it’s not a necessity

Using a wire whisk mix well to prevent burning and prevent lumps from forming

As the roux cooks it will slowly start to build in color such as here we have a blond roux

As you cook the roux the bubbles will dissipate and you will start to notes something of a toasted nut scen

This would be just about peanut colored

At this point the roux has been cooking about 20 minutes and this caramel color is fine but i want to keep going and take it further

My finished roux about 30 minutes in all, remove from heat and remember the pan is still hot so the roux if not attended will continue to cook

Off the heat transfer the roux to a Dutch oven (large pot) as quickly as possible to prevent further cooking and add 1 green bell pepper (medium dice), 1 onion (medium dice) and 2 stalks of stalk celery (medium dice) cook on moderate heat until vegetables have softened and are somewhat translucent

Use 1/4 spice mix and coat 450g chickens about a half hour ahead of time

Brown in about 1-2 TBS oil, then transfer to a Dutch oven with the trinity

I am using chicken thighs boneless and skinless but you can use a whole chicken or hen divided up

In the same fat you browned the chicken in quickly brown off about 4 sausage links (about 450g)

I am using andouille sausage

Add the sausages to Dutch oven

Add the remaining quarter of the spice mix, mix to combine

Add 1-1.2L chicken stock, 4-5 dl stewed tomatoes and 1 bay leaf, bring to a boil, reduce heat simmer 30 minutes, remove the sausage and chicken, continue cooking 15 minutes longer, slice the sausage and chicken, add them back to the soup along with 200g sliced sautéed okra, cook an extra 10 minutes, add chopped parley adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, remove from heat and let stand about 5 minutes

Ready to serve!!

You can serve over rice if desired

At the table make sure you have some nice hot sauce and "gumbo file" (sassafras in powdered form