Preparation:
Fill gumbo pot (about 8 - 12 qt) 1/3 to 1/2 full of water. Put to boil to be used later.
Mix flour and oil in a microwave boil (1 1/2 qt). Cook on full power for 6 minutes. Stir. Cook another 3 minutes. Stir. Cook at 1 minute intervals, stirring in between until the roux is the color of a Hershey's kiss. Add chopped onion. Cook for another minute.
Add roux to boiling water. Let mixture return to a boil. Watch it carefully because it can boil over! Lower fire until it is boiling slowly and doesn't foam up. Boil for 1 FULL HOUR! A Must!
Season chicken before hand with Cajun seasonings. Add sausage to mixture. Cook for another hour. If gumbo is getting to thick, add more water. Add chicken. Cook for 30 - 45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Add green onions and parsley. Cook for 5 - 10 minutes. Turn off fire.
Let gumbo set for awhile and then skim off the excess fat that rises to the top. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Serve over hot rice.
The only tricky part to this gumbo is the roux. We've started making the roux in the microwave. It's a little easier to make and a little harder to burn it.
Note: Using boneless chicken: One thing that the bones make is that good chicken stock flavor. If you want to try the gumbo with boneless chicken, you'll want to supplement the gumbo with canned chicken stock.
This is another of Karl's recipes (I like his better than the others I've tried). This one I think HE likes because its simple, I seem to remember him saying that this is his grandmother's recipe and succeeds where others fail because of the few ingredients. I agree with him, most Cajun dishes I've tried to fix have been complicated and involved thirty or more ingredients. Somehow this tastes better than those (or who knows, maybe I'm just not a good enough Cajun cook to make those recipes work?). It calls for sausage, but you can season turkey to make it (I have, turkey is often on sale at the su |
