Ingredients:
GUMBO
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour
1 pack Andouille Sausage; Don't use spicy andouille (Find Savoie's)
1 medium Yellow Onion; finely chopped
3 stalks of Celery; finely chopped
1 large Bell Pepper; finely chopped
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon Salt
1 ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Thyme
½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
2 cloves minced Garlic
4 to 6 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts
4 Bay Leaves
64 oz Chicken Stock
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
2 cups chopped Frozen Okra
RICE
1 cup Rice
2 cups Water
Directions:
GUMBO
Cut sausage into rounds no thicker than 1/4 inch.
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Set a large Dutch oven on medium heat and add oil. Sprinkle in the flour. Stir constantly with a whisk for 30 minutes.
When the roux is the color of a used copper penny, add the sausage and stir with a spoon. The sausage will begin to bow in shape.
When the sausage begins rendering its fat, add the vegetables and seasonings, except the garlic and bay leaves, stirring constantly.
After the vegetables have softened, make a well in the center of the pot, add the garlic to the well, then stir for 1 minute.
Add the chicken. Stir until the chicken is mostly all white.
Add the bay leaves.
Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Note: An additional 32 ounces of chicken stock can be added for more gumbo without watering down the roux.
Once boiling, reduce heat to a low simmer, and stir occasionally for an hour.
After an hour, heat a skillet with 2 tablespoons of oil. Add okra. Heat until edges begin to brown and seeds pop.
Add to gumbo and bring to a brief boil to incorporate the flavors.
Remove the bay leaves.
Serve over rice. Note that gumbo is tastier if cooled overnight in the fridge and reheated the next day.
RICE
In a pot, bring 2 cups of water to a boil.
Once boiling, add 1 cup of rice and a pinch of salt. Cover the pot, reduce heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 5 minutes before removing the lid.
Put rice in a bowl and pour gumbo on top. — Don't eat the bay leaves.
ENJOY!
Notes:
If you wish to add seafood to the gumbo, or in place of the chicken and sausage, prepare this recipe as written but add seafood after the okra, allowing the gumbo to boil at least five minutes to cook the seafood. Shrimp, crab, oysters, and crawfish are traditional seafood additions.