Classic Chicken and Andouille Gumbo
This is a dish that defines the rhythm of a kitchen. It isn't a quick Tuesday night meal; it is a labor that rewards the time you spend standing over the stove.
Watch your heat, not the clock.
The roux is the heart of the gumbo. If the flour blackens with dark specks, it is burnt and must be started over.
- heavy-bottomed cast iron dutch oven
- whisk
- wooden spoon
What goes in.
- 1 cupall-purpose flour
- 1 cupneutral oil, such as canola
- 2 largeyellow onions, diced
- 2green bell peppers, diced
- 3 stalkscelery, diced
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1 lbandouille sausage, sliced into coins
- 1.5 lbchicken thighs, skin-on and bone-in
- 6 cupschicken stock, warmed
- 2bay leaves
- 1 tbspcreole seasoning
Mastering the Darkened Flour
Keep the heat at medium and your hand moving constantly. You are looking for a deep, opaque brown that smells toasted, like roasted nuts.
The method.
Brown the protein
Sear the chicken thighs in the dutch oven until the skin is crisp, then remove. Brown the sausage in the remaining fat until the edges are dark.
Make the roux
Add oil and flour to the pot. Stir continuously for 20 to 30 minutes. Do not walk away.
Add the aromatics
Once the roux hits the target color, immediately add onions, peppers, and celery. The moisture from the vegetables will stop the cooking of the roux.
Build the base
Stir in garlic, then slowly pour in the warm stock. Whisk until smooth. Return the chicken and sausage to the pot.
Simmer
Add bay leaves and seasoning. Partially cover and simmer on low for at least two hours. Skim any fat that rises to the surface.
Finish
Remove the chicken to shred the meat off the bone, discarding the bones and skin, then return the meat to the pot.
Other turns to take.
Seafood Gumbo
Substitute the chicken and sausage with shrimp and crab, and use seafood stock instead of chicken.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Warm your stock before adding it to the roux to prevent clumping.
The gumbo tastes better the next day after the flavors have had time to settle.
Serve over plain white rice with a dash of hot sauce on the side.
The ones that keep coming up.
Can I use butter instead of oil for the roux?
Stick to oil. Butter contains milk solids that burn much faster and cannot handle the high heat required for a dark gumbo roux.
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