Mean Chef Chicken, Andouille, Ham and Okra Gumbo

Julie in TX's Note:

The perfect Gumbo. I adopted this recipe in September, 2006. It is the best gumbo recipe I have ever tried.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ cups chopped yellow onions
• 1 ½ cups chopped celery
• 1 ½ cups chopped green bell peppers
• 1 lb okra , either fresh or frozen and cut into pieces
• 1 ½ lbs hot smoked sausage , such as andouille or kielbasa, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices
• ¾ lb smoked ham, cut into small cubes or ¾ lb ham , nugget cut into small cubes
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• ¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 quarts chicken stock or 3 quarts chicken broth
• 3 cups cooked chicken meat
• 1 tablespoon Pickapeppa Sauce
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 2 bunches chopped green onions
• hot sauce , to taste (optional)
• 4 cups cooked long-grain rice , accompaniment

Directions:

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat and stir in the flour, sprinkling a little at a time and whisking inches Whisk slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes to make a dark brown roux, the color of chocolate.
2. If you get black specks in your roux it is burned and you will have to start over.
3. Add the onions, celery, okra and bell peppers and continue to stir for 4 to 5 minutes, or until wilted.
4. The mixture will be pasty and fairly dry.
5. Add the sausage, ham, salt, cayenne, pepper, and bay leaves and stir well.
6. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes.
7. Add the stock or broth and stir well to combine with the roux mixture.
8. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low.
9. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.
10. Add the chicken and cook just until the chicken is heated through, about 5 minutes.
11. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley, Pickapeppa Sauce and green onions.
12. Ladle into deep soup bowls over rice.
13. Serve with hot sauce, if desired.

Reviews

[HopeJohnJP]

Very enthusiastically received. Time consuming, but low stress. I halved the recipe. I must have whisked too fast or heated too slowly, because even after half an hour, my roux was more butternut golden than chocolate brown. I omitted hot sauces because good andouille has enough kick for us, and I stirred the rice into the gumbo.

[Joseph Brown]

This tasted wonderful. My Wife Loved it. I didn't like the roux, the browned flour and oil smell was too much for me. Once the soup was finished everything was wonderful.