Besh Knows Best: Chicken And Sausage Gumbo
New Orleans icon John Besh's fourth and latest cookbook is a collection of family recipes for the home cook with a hankering for Cajun and Creole spice. With simple, hearty fare, detailed instructions and anecdotes that will make you feel like you're right there in Louisiana, a hot (or really hot) meal is just a few ingredients away.
How you make your gumbo depends on where you come from. Those of us within eyesight of New Orleans like the rich, deep flavor of a Creole gumbo. We use tomatoes and/or tomato paste, which you'd never see in a gumbo from Cajun country. And for me, it's not a real gumbo without okra; fresh is better, but out of season, frozen is okay.
Besh Knows Best: Chicken And Sausage Gumbo
Prep Time
45
minutes
Cook Time
2.5
hours
Servings
10
Total time: 3 hours, 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup chicken fat or canola oil
- 3/4 cup flour
- 2 large onions
- 1 large chicken
- 2 tablespoons Creole spices
- 2 pounds spicy smoked sausage
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 green bell peppers
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 quarts chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 ounces Andouille sausage
- 2 cups sliced okra
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire
- Tabasco
- Salt and pepper
- 6 cups cooked white rice
Directions
- Make a roux by heating the fat in a large heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot fat. It will immediately begin to sizzle. Reduce the heat to medium and continue whisking until the roux turns a deep brown color, about 15 minutes. Add the onions, stirring them into the roux with a wooden spoon. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue stirring until the roux turns a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.
- Season the chicken pieces with the Creole spices and add the chicken to the hot roux. Once the chicken is well-seared, add the smoked sausage and stir well. Then add the celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, and garlic. Raise the heat to medium-high, stir for another 3 minutes or so, then add the stock, thyme, and bay leaves.
- Bring the gumbo to a boil while stirring, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally and skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo (moving the pot half off the burner helps collect the impurities).
- Add the andouille sausage, okra, and Worcestershire, season well with Tabasco, salt, and pepper, and simmer for another 45 minutes. Skim the gumbo before serving with the white rice.