icon Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

This is a simple gumbo, but a hearty one and a classic combination.

Andouille Sausage is a spicy coarse-grained pork sausage, which is smoked over pecan wood and sugar cane for up to seven or eight hours at approximately 175 deg F (80 deg C). It is made of made of pork (shank meat and fat), cracked black pepper, salt, onions, garlick and wine. The recipe was originally brought to the New World by the French colonists of Louisiana. It is an essential ingredient of classic Louisiana dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice and étouffée.

If desperate because andouille is unavailable, use any smoked pork-containing sausage i.e. kielbasa or mettwurst, or even bratwurst.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2-1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2-1 cup flour
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 2 bell peppers, chopped
  • 4 ribs celery, chopped
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 quarts chicken stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 large chicken (young hen preferred), cut into pieces
  • 2 pounds andouille or smoked sausage, cut into 1/2" pieces
  • 1 bunch scallions (green onions), tops only, chopped
  • 2/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
  • Filé powder to taste
  • Tabasco Sauce

Preparation:
To make Roux:

  1. In a large, heavy pot (non-reactive, not a cast-iron one), heat the oil and add the flour. Stir constantly until a dark brown roux is formed. The roux is done when it has turned chocolate-brown and releases a slightly nutty fragrance.
  2. Add the onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. This will cool the roux down. It is safer not to add any broth until the hot oil in the roux has cooled down

To make the soup:

  1. Boil 4 quarts of water. Clean the chicken and season the chicken with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning. Add to booiling water and boil for 45 minutes to an hour, or untill the meat starts coming off the bones. Meanwhile, brown the sausage, pour off fat and set the meat aside.
  2. Remove the bird from the water, save the broth. Peel all usable meat off the bones and set meat aside.
  3. Skim chicken fat from the both. Add chicken to the stock, seasonings, chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil, then cook for about one hour. Skim any additional fat as needed.
  4. Add the chopped scallion tops and parsley, and heat for 5 minutes.
  5. Place about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of rice in each bowl and ladle the gumbo over and around it. Sprinkle with filé powder, if desided. Season with Tabaso sauce, or any other pepper sauce from Louisiana or the Caribbean.
  6. Serve with plenty of french bread and good beer, pinot noir, zinfandel, riesling or a rich chardonnay.
  7. YIELD: About 12 entrée sized servings.
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    Last updated: October 12, 2010
    Photograph from Wikimedia Commons used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.