Thanks to my friend, Chuck Thomas, for helping me adapt his mother’s gumbo recipe for preparation in a Dutch oven.
Ingredients:- 4 large chicken breasts – about 3 1/2 pounds of chicken
- 2 lbs any variety smoked sausage
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 2 14 1/2 ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
- 1/2 Tablespoon Louisiana Hot Sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 Tablespoon whole thyme
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 4 ribs celery, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 16 oz package frozen sliced okra
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
Preparation:If you are in a rush, cook something else.Cut the smoked sausage into bite-sized pieces. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with about 1/2 Tablespoon of Tony Chachere’s Original Cajun Seasoning.
Preheat a 12-inch Dutch oven (you may want to use a 12-inch deep dutch oven because this recipe fills a 12-inch standard oven TO THE TOP) over a dozen briquettes and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil and the smoked sausage. Cook the sausage, stirring occasionally until the sausage is browned and some of the fat is rendered out.
Remove the sausage and add the chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally until the chicken is browned. Remove the chicken and set aside with the sausage.
Refresh the coals if necessary to keep medium-low heat. Let the moisture from the chicken boil off. Add enough vegetable oil to the drippings left in the dutch oven to make 3/4 cup total. Add the flour and stir constantly with a non-scratch whisk or a wooden spoon. The fat and the oil together make a roux.
The roux is vital to the flavor of gumbo. You should continue to stir the roux and it will gradually darken in color until it becomes the color of an old penny. The roux will continue to heat up and darken, even though there is no appearance of boiling once all of the moisture is cooked out. It will take 20 minutes or more over 10-12 briquettes for the roux to develop a nice dark copper color. Don't rush this step or stop stirring, because the roux will burn. The roux will smell a lot like chicken frying as the flour toasts in the oil. If it starts to smell burned and/or you see very dark brown or black color in the roux, it is burnt and will ruin the flavor of the gumbo. If this happens, it is best to clean your oven and start the roux over with fresh oil and flour.
Once the roux has reached a nice dark stage, add the chicken stock. Do this carefully because the roux will be well above boiling temperature. Add the canned tomatoes, creole seasoning, hot sauce, pepper, cayenne, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce. There will be plenty of salt in the gumbo from the creole seasoning.
Add the celery, onions, and bell peppers (known as “trinity” in Cajun cooking), the garlic, and the frozen okra. Bring to a boil (refreshing the coals as necessary). Put the lid on the dutch oven and simmer with 12-14 briquettes bottom heat and 14-16 briquettes top heat about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are barely tender. Add the browned sausage and chicken, give everything a stir, and simmer an additional 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
This is a good time to taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. If more salt is needed, add more Cajun seasoning–it is very salty. There should be a little heat right when you first taste the gumbo, and after you swallow, a little burn should set in. The original recipe says “You don’t want to blow people’s head off, but want them to know it has been there.” For more heat, add more cayenne and/or Louisiana Hot Sauce.
Once the seasoning is right, add the green onions and parsley and cook about 5-10 more minutes until the green onions are tender. Alternatively, the green onions and parsley can be served fresh at the table as a topping for the gumbo.
Let the gumbo rest for 30 minutes or more so that the flavors continue to develop.
Serve over white rice. Gumbo is also traditionally served with sliced French bread.
Thanks again to Chuck Thomas for the recipe and for the pictures. This recipe takes time, but the result is well worth it!
