CHICKEN-SAUSAGE GUMBO

Gumbo with chicken and Andouille sausage

This is a recipe that I got originally from Paul Prudhomme's cookbook, The Louisiana Kitchen. It is a classic Louisiana dish. Serve with gumbo-style rice.

Ingredients

(serves 5)

Procedure

  1. Cut extra fat from the chicken pieces. Sprinkle each generously on both sides with salt, garlic powder and cayenne, rubbing the spices in after all three have been applied. Let stand at room temperature while you chop the vegetables and heat the oil.
  2. Chop the onions, bell pepper and celery, combine in a bowl, and set aside.
  3. In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 to 3 cm of oil until very hot 190C to 200C Leave about 1 cm of space below the top of the pan, so it won't overflow when you add the chicken pieces later. Use a deep fry thermometer if you have one.
  4. While the oil is heating, combine the flour, 2.5 ml salt, 2.5 ml garlic powder and 2.5 ml cayenne in a paper bag. When the oil is almost hot enough, add the chicken pieces one or two at a time and shake until they are well coated. Save 50 g of the leftover flour.
  5. Put the stock in a large kettle or Dutch oven, and begin heating it to a boil.
  6. Fry the chicken until the crust is brown on both sides and the meat is cooked. This takes about 6 minutes a side for light meat, a bit longer for dark. Drain on paper towels. You may have to fry the chicken in two batches.
  7. Pour the hot oil into a glass measuring cup, being very careful to leave as many of the browned particles as possible in the pan. Pour 100 ml of the oil back into the pan and discard the rest.
  8. Place the pan over high heat. Using a whisk, gradually stir in the leftover flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until this roux is dark red-brown (about 4 minutes). Be very careful not to scorch the mixture, or to splash any onto your skin as you stir. Remove from the heat, add the vegetable mixture all at once and stir until the vegetables are all coated. Return the pan to low heat, and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes.
  9. Check that the stock has reached a boil. Add the vegetable mixture to the stock in spoonfuls, stirring with the whisk after each addition. Return to a boil and stir in the andouille and the minced garlic. Simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes.
  10. While the gumbo is cooking, remove the skin from the chicken pieces, and cut off as much meat as you can. Cut the meat into small pieces (about 1 cm cubes). When the gumbo is cooked, add the chicken meat.
  11. The original recipe did not call for this, but I take time to spoon off the fat from the top of the gumbo. This is mostly oil, which does not solidify when you chill it. You should be able to take off at least 100 ml
  12. To serve as a main course, mound 100 ml of cooked gumbo-style rice in a soup bowl, and ladle about 300 ml gumbo around the rice. For an appetizer, use 20 ml 150 ml of gumbo.

Notes

Note about Andouille (pronounced an-DOO-ee) sausage: this is a uniquely spiced, smoked sausage made mostly in Louisiana. If you can get some, then use it; it makes a substantial difference to the recipe to use it. If you can't, then try the Polish sausage kielbasa as a substitute. Do not substitute the sausage called "Louisiana Sausage" or "Louisiana Hot Sausage." It's not the same thing.

Rating


Difficulty: moderate to hard.
Time: 1 hour preparation, 1 hour cooking.
Precision: measure the seasonings.

Contributor

 
Vicki O'Day 
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto CA 
hplabs!oday 
 
Recipe last modified: 24 Feb 86

Original header

From: oday@hplabs (Vicki O'Day)
Newsgroups: mod.recipes
Subject: RECIPE: Chicken-Sausage Gumbo
Date: 21 Mar 86 05:31:29 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA
Approved: reid@glacier.ARPA


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