First, the ingredients:
2-3 pounds of chicken. I use breast tenderloins and thighs.
Salt
Garlic powder
Cayenne pepper
1 cup of onions, chopped (usually a little more than a quarter of a large white onion)
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped (usually one large bell pepper)
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 and 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
Veggie oil
7 cups of chicken stock (one big can and half of one little can)
Half a pound of andouille sausage, or any other smoked sausage you enjoy
Garlic (I usually do about 4 cloves)
First, rub your chicken down real good on both sides with salt, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder, then let it sit for about a half an hour or so.
While you're letting the chicken sit, cut up your onion, celery, pepper, and garlic.
Mix together your 1 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder in a bag or bowl. Set aside 1/2 cup of this mixture - this will become your roux later.
The next step involves deep frying the chicken. Add a fair amount of oil - enough to cover your chicken pieces, put in a few at a time - to a large pot over high heat. Dredge your chicken pieces through the flour and spice mixture.
Once the oil is hot (a little bit of water flicked into the pot will spatter immediately), start putting your chicken pieces in. Be careful not to burn yourself.
Once the chicken pieces have been submerged in the oil, leave them be for a few minutes. They don't need to be flipped, turned, stirred, or anything like that. The size of your chicken pieces will determine how long you need to cook them; thicker pieces like thighs will take around 5 minutes, give or take, and smaller pieces like the breast tenderloins I use go faster. You're looking for a nice, golden brown on the outside like... well, like fried chicken.
This chicken is actually pretty good on its own. Make extra, especially if there are people around watching you cook. (Part of the reason I use the breast tenderloins is because they make convenient little finger foods too)
Take a breather from the hectic pace of deep frying to cut up your sausage. Big chunks are okay; gumbo is a pretty hearty food.
Now comes the hard part - making the roux. Simply put, a roux is fried flour - it's used as a thickening agent in cajun foods. Take 1/2 cup of the oil you used to fry the chicken and set it aside, draining the rest out of your pot. Be sure to leave the little browned bits in the bottom of the pot... they're tasty! Add the half cup of oil back into the pot over high heat. Have a whisk ready, then add the half cup of flour and spice you set aside earlier to the pot. Whisk like mad.
A few notes about roux:
1. Roux will stick to your skin like glue. This is bad, because roux is hot.
2. Never stop stirring your roux.
3. Making a roux will stink up your house like mad... open a window or two, and turn on your hood fan if you've got one.
4. NEVER STOP STIRRING YOUR ROUX.
5. It's fairly easy to burn roux... if it starts smoking like crazy, you've burned your roux. If you've got flour/spice left over from frying your chicken, clear out the pot and try again with new oil.
6. NEVER STOP STIRRING YOUR ROUX.
When your roux turns a dark brown color, and maybe reminds you a little bit of ground beef, TAKE THAT ROUX OFF THE STOVE! RIGHT NOW!
Dump your veggies into the roux, while still stirring. (Never stop stirring your roux.) The roux will mix with the moisture in the veggies and you'll get a real thick, goopy substance. Some people may want to put this mixture over low heat to cook the vegetables a little more... I've found they cook plenty well enough just from the heat of the pot and the roux.
Put the mixture back over high heat and add your stock, a little bit at a time. The idea is to get your roux fully incorporated into the liquid before you add more, like in the next picture.
Once you've added all the stock, dump the andouille into the gumbo. Bring the whole thing to a boil, then take it down to a simmer. The gumbo needs to simmer uncovered for at least an hour.
While everything is simmering, go back to the chicken you fried up and start cutting it up to put into the gumbo.
After your hour of simmering, dump the chicken into the pot. (Some people find that there's a ton of oil on the surface of the gumbo after this simmer... usually because they added too much oil when making their roux, but also because this recipe is pretty oily in general. If this puts you off, you can wick some of the oil away with a paper towel.)
Serve over rice. I use white rice, but brown rice would probably work too! In any case some people might find this recipe a little spicy; the rice will help cut that down.
Enjoy! Arttemis fucked around with this message on 01-12-2008 at 01:54 AM.
Just kidding, looks good.
That's pretty much the recipe that I use too. Minus the deep fry. Never tried that before. Gonna give that a try next go.
I'm not allowed to go so heavy on the Cayenne though. 
Sucks.
--Satan, quoted by John Milton
quote:
Bloodsage said:
If you like the andouille in Louisiana, don't order it in France!!!!1 Trust me: it's not the same thing at all.
Typical French diet:
This looks SUPER good. I'm glad there's no okra, cause I hate the stuff. Shrimp addition would be good.
Any other recipes? Like jambalya? I spelled that wrong, I know.
quote:
ACES! Another post by Mortious:
Typical French diet:Stale bread. Wine. Garlic. Bits of animals no one else will touch.
You forgot the cheese that smells like someone's feet and a cigarette chaser.
quote:And sex.
Mortious.
Typical French diet:Stale bread. Wine. Garlic. Bits of animals no one else will touch.
