Frozen Dinner Swap: Chicken-Andouille Gumbo

Soup as a meal is not a concept that is well received by my husband. Judging by his reaction when I mention this, you'd think I'd said, "Hey, how about we not eat anything tonight?" Cereal as a meal is perfectly fine, but soup is not. Chili is a meal if served with Fritos, and gumbo is an altogether different story. In my house, gumbo is the only liquid that passes as a meal. Are you as confused as I am by all these qualifications?

Men.  

Saturday night, I prepared the container of Chicken-Andouille Gumbo that I received at our Frozen Dinner Swap the week before. Being from Louisiana inherently makes you a gumbo snob, and Ty and I both loved this recipe!

I've never made gumbo myself. The word "roux" makes me shudder in fear. But if you are brave and need to feed the masses for an LSU party at your house, this recipe will be a hit. Thanks to Catherine Long for passing along this recipe at our swap!

Chicken-Andouille Gumbo

1 large stewing chicken
1 lb andouille, sliced in 1/4-inch slices
6 large white or yellow onions, chopped
1 small bunch of green onions, cut fine
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped celery
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, chopped
salt, black pepper and red cayenne pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (for roux)
1 cup cooking oil
6 cups hot water

• Cut up chicken, wash and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 cup oil in heavy skillet and fry chicken until brown. Remove chicken and put aside. Pour remaining oil into large heavy pot for making roux
• After roux is made, lower heat and add all chipped ingredients, except green onions, garlic and parsley. Cover and simmer until onions are clear, stirring occasionally.
• Add sliced andouille and chicken to roux mixture, cover and let simmer for about 1/2 hour. Stir often during this process. Keep heat low through this point.
• Add water, garlic, parsley and green onions. You may increase heat until mixture begins to boil. Now, lower heat to simmer, cover and cook 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until chicken is tender.
• This has a lot of liquid and is served over rice, over which 1/4 teaspoon filé has been sprinkled. It's even better the next day.

Variations: This same recipe may be used for duck, rabbit, squirrel. In making seafood gumbo, such as shrimp, crab or oysters, the only exception, of course, is that there will be no frying of the particular seafood being used.

My personal thoughts: Between step one and step two, this recipe skips the steps involved in making the roux. As a Louisiana native, I guess I'm already supposed to know how to do this. At least we have Google!

- Recipe from The Justin Wilson Cook Book