Feelin’ Groovy

I feel great today.

Slept like a rock all night.

Probably because at the Men’s Club meeting last night, we had gumbo, french bread, and potato salad.

So today, I’m singing praises for the medicinal and restorative properties of Louisiana Gumbo on a chilly night.

Asking a native of Southwest Louisiana how to cook gumbo is nearly like asking any american stranger how to fry a hamburger or boil a hot dog. It’s simply something most learn how to do from their mom, and one way is as good as the other.

This is the way I learned how to make Gumbo. The key here is to find the real ingredients. For instance, you can use any sort of chicken, but it’ll probably atomize into threads with the long cooking. I suppose you can reserve it until towards the end. A hen will last hours of slow cooking, rendering it’s collagen and fat to produce flavor and mouth-feel. Same with Andouille. You can use smoked sausage, but understand that most of the retail sausage is full of cornmeal and will be mealy after an hours of cooking.

Ingredients

• 1+ cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup avocado oil
• 1 Chicken, preferably a Hen
• 1 lb real andouille sausage
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 cups chopped green pepper
• 1 cups chopped celery
• 2 cups Okra chopped.
• 1 tbs (or so) KPauls Poultry Magic
• a good shot – A tbs or so Tabasco.
• 2 bay leaves
• Chicken Stock/Water
• Cooked rice. This is added at serving. I prefer Cajun Country medium grain for this. About 1/2 cup cooked per person.

Instructions

1. Chop all the Onions, Peppers, and Celery.
2. Cut the chicken into parts. Saute in oil until golden. Reserve.
3. Cut the Andouille into 1/2″ chunks, saute until brown. Reserve
4. Saute Okra in butter or oil until sticky, lightly browned. Reserve.
5. In a 10qt pot heat the oil until nearly smoking.
6. Add the flour and stir with a whisk and/or Wooden spoon (I alternate). You want the consistency of loose pancake batter. Add oil or flour early to do this. Keep the roux moving until it reaches dark brown – a little darker than peanut butter. You want it dark, not burnt. Remember, it’ll still cook as you add veggies.
7. Add the onions/celery/and bell pepper. Saute until glassy – about 10 minutes.
8. Add the stock and stir. Bring to a boil
9. Add the chicken, andouille, Okra. Bring to a boil
10. Lower heat to simmer.

Then let it do it’s thing.

Serve is with a scoop of rice in the bowl. Usually it’s served with French bread and potato salad.