Gumbo for Sunday Dinner

A couple of weeks ago I tried making jambalaya. It was not so good. I then realized that I really wanted to make gumbo. Really, I've been wanting the gumbo at The Kingfish Cafe in Seattle, but that's just too far away. It was time to give it a go in my own kitchen.

The recipe I used came from Paula Dean. Seth liked it, as did my co-worker, but I'm not quite sure how I felt about it. The one at The Kingfish Cafe is just so good.

The recipe itself was pretty easy; although it is time consuming. It makes for some tasty comfort food. A couple of notes on the ingredients:

• Instead of smoked sausage, I used Louisiana hot links, but if you like spicy, go for Andouille sausage.


• The recipe calls for margarine, but I only had butter. It turned out fine with butter

One more thing, the picture above lacks the shrimp. I did not add the shrimp until the last moment because I didn't want to mix it into the gumbo itself. The recipe makes way too many servings (eight to ten) for the two of us to eat before shrimp goes bad.


Gumbo
by Paula Dean

INGREDIENTS

• 3 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves


• Salt and pepper


• 1/4 C vegetable oil


• 1 lb. smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices


• 1/2 C all-purpose flour


• 5 T margarine


• 1 large onion, chopped


• 8 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped


• 3 stalks celery, chopped


• 1/4 C Worcestershire sauce


• 1/4 bunch flat leaf parsley, stems and leaves, coarsely chopped, plus chopped leaves for garnish


• 4 C hot water


• 5 beef bouillon cubes


• 1 (14-oz.) can stewed tomatoes, with juice


• 2 C frozen sliced okra


• 4 green onions, sliced, white and green parts


• 1/2 lb. small shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked

DIRECTIONS
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until browned on both sides and remove. Add the sausage and cook until browned, then remove. Sprinkle the flour over the oil, add 2 T margarine and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until brown, about 10 minutes. Let the roux cool.

Return the Dutch oven to low heat and melt the remaining 3 T margarine. Add the onion, garlic, green pepper and celery and cook for 10 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, to taste and 1/4 bunch parsley. Cook, while stirring frequently for 10 minutes. Add 4 C hot water and bouillon cubes, whisking constantly. Add the chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Add tomatoes and okra. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Just before serving, add the green onions, shrimp and chopped parsley.