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October 11, 2005
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo with a baked roux
Mmmm. This turned out well. It's also lower calorie than the normal recipe, because it uses a baked roux instead of a flour and fat mixture.
The market had fowl (older hens for soup), which they rarely do. I bought several, used one for this and froze the rest. The stock from fowl is darker and more flavorful and the meat takes longer to cook, but also has more flavor than regular chicken.
Mushrooms are not in most recipes for gumbo I have seen, but they're a tasty addition.
Chicken and stock
1 3 lb. fowl
Assorted vegetable peelings or one carrot, rib of celery and onion, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp each dried thyme and basil, peppercorns and coriander.
5 cloves
Place all ingredients in a stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked and tender. A fowl will take about 4 hours, regular chicken parts about half that time. Remove chicken from broth, when cool enough to handle take meat from bones. Return skin and bones to pot, continue cooking for a few hours more. Strain and let cool.
Dry Roux
1/2 cup flour
Place the flour in an iron skillet. Bake in a 400 degree oven until the flour is nut brown, stirring the flour every five minutes (watch closely as it begins to brown). If you have made a roux with oil before, this will be slightly lighter - it darkens when you add liquid. This process can also be done on top of the stove, but will need constant stirring to prevent burning. You can also make extra flour and store it for later use.
Gumbo
1 lb smoked sausage (In New Orleans they would use Andouille, I used kielbasa)
2 medium onions
1 large green bell pepper
2 ribs celery
3 Tb garlic
seasonings - salt, pepper, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce.
1 small can mushrooms (optional)
1 10 oz. package frozen okra
6 scallions, sliced thinly or chopped
1/3 cup parsley, chopped.
Slice the sausage 1/4 inch thick and place in a pan - bake in the oven at the same time as the roux, or cook in a dutch oven, then pour off the fat and set sausage aside.
Chop onions, green pepper, celery and garlic in food processor. Place in dutch oven on medium heat, let it begin to boil in its own liquid. When it does, add 2 quarts chicken stock. Bring back to boil and add the sausage.
Gradually add 1/2 cup hot water to the browned flour while mixing to a paste. It should be darker than peanut butter (for a multi-cultural reference, mine was about the color of red miso). Add to the dutch oven and bring to a boil to allow it to thicken. Reduce heat and let simmer 15-30 minutes. Add the reserved chicken meat, cut in large dice. Simmer another 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Add the can of mushrooms (including liquid) and the package of frozen okra, cook ten minutes more. Add green onion and chopped parsley, cook another five minutes.
Serve in bowls with rice or french bread.
Posted by Leigh Witchel at October 11, 2005 11:42 PM
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Comments
yummmmm........that's a keeper
Posted by: anne at October 12, 2005 6:29 AM
...and I thought Gumbo was the elephant in that Disney movie!
Posted by: Steve at October 12, 2005 12:53 PM
CANNED mushrooms, forsooth. Pfeh.
Does sound yummy. I'll have to try it. I like the idea of baking the roux instead of frying it!
(canned mushrooms. oy.)
Posted by: Grace at October 14, 2005 9:50 PM