What you’ll need
For Roux
Vegetable Oil and All Purpose Flour
For your Chicken Stock
5 Quarts Water
2 to 3 Pounds Chicken Gizzards (Already included in recipe)
5 Pound Whole Chicken. (Baked or Raw) (Already included in recipe)
YOU CAN GET THE BEST POSSIBLE CHICKEN STOCK WITH THE USE OF A 7 to 8 QUART SLOW COOKER. If you do not have a slow cooker then I will give you instructions of what to do if you don’t have a slow cooker.
Chicken
2 pounds of Gizzards
2 Pounds Boneless Chicken Breasts
2 Pounds Chicken Drumettes
One Whole Chicken (Raw or Baked)
Sausage
2 Pounds D&D Smoked Sausage
2 Pounds Andouille Smoked Sausage
3 pounds Patton’s Hot Sausage (You can use the Patties or links)
Seasonings
1 Yellow Onion
1 Bell Pepper
3 ribs Celery
3 to 4 Cloves of Garlic
3/4 Cup Bunch of Green Onion
4 Tablespoons Parsley
2 Tablespoons Fresh Thyme
1 lbs Pound of Fresh Okra
Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
Chef Paul Prudhommes Poultry Magic
Accent
Gumbo File
Optional Ingredients
Cayenne Pepper
14oz Can diced Tomatoes
If you want to make a Grilled Cheese sandwich to go with your Chicken and sausage Gumbo here’s what, you’ll need
Texas Toast 1 loaf
Salted Butter
American Cheese
Diced Tomatoes- If you add diced tomatoes this will be called a creole chicken and sausage gumbo. I have never added diced tomatoes nor has any of my family members had diced tomatoes in their gumbo. Yes, I have had gumbo with diced tomatoes in it. It’s good but I don’t see any difference in flavor. 🙂 To me it’s just a personal preference!
MAKING THE ROUX
IMPORTANT STEPS ONCE YOU START STIRRING, DO NOT STOP. YOU MUST CONSTANTLY STIR UNTIL THE ROUX REACHES A DARK BROWN COLOR
IF YOU BURN YOUR ROUX DO NOT GIVE UP. START OVER!
MAKE SURE YOUR ROUX IS A DARK BROWN COLOR NO EXCEPTIONS
MAKING A ROUX CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM 10 TO 20 or even 30 MINUTES
Quick Tip- You can make your roux weeks or even months in advanced. Just make sure your roux is stored in a jar or airtight container. That way you can use it whenever you’re ready to make your gumbo. You can also use the roux to make other recipes such as Smothered Chicken IF you decide not to make your Gumbo!
Step 1- In a large skillet, Add 3/4 cup of Vegetable Oil. Let get hot about 2 minutes. MAKE SURE YOUR FIRE ON YOUR SKILLET IS ON MEDIUM HIGH HEAT.
Step 2- Add 3/4 cup of flour and STIR .DO NOT STOP STIRRING. After 5 minutes of stirring your roux will start to change color and thicken. Continue to stir roux for 3 to 4 minutes. Your roux at this stage should be at a brown color. Roux will be very thick. To get it to a dark brown color turn your fire off and keep stirring for about 8 minutes. During those 8 minutes your Roux will thin out and it will darken in color as you continue to stir. Remember roux will still be VERY HOT. PAY ATTENTION TO THE COLOR OF YOUR ROUX. ROUX SHOULD NOT BE ANY LIGHTER THAN THE DARK BROWN COLOR. After 15 minutes if your roux hasn’t reached the dark brown color, continue to stir constantly until to reach the DARK BROWN COLOR. NO EXCEPTIONS
Roux cooking times vary. It can take a shorter or longer time to get the roux to a dark brown color.
Step 3- Once you are finished with your Roux, Let it cool until you prepared all the rest of your ingredients.
Preparing your ingredients
BEFORE YOU BEGIN READ INSTRUCTIONS BELOW
1. Make sure you wash your hands and wear gloves and clean all utensils you use.
2. Make sure all meat such as gizzards, boneless chicken breasts and whole chicken are cleaned thoroughly with cold water in a strainer.
3. Make sure Meat is stored in the fridge immediately after cleaning.
4. MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT LEAVE ANY MEAT OUT. This can cause your Gumbo to spoil
Chop your seasonings
Step 4- Chop one onion, one bell pepper, three stalks celery (Make sure you rinse celery before chopping), 3 to 4 cloves garlic (until minced), green onion, parsley (until minced), Fresh Thyme (Chop very fine until it resembles coarse crumbs), and Okra (Until minced) place all ingredients in fridge if you have other ingredients to prepare.
Preparing Fresh Thyme
Step 5-Using your fingertips remove the leaves off of the Thyme. You can also take your two fingers and glide along the edge of the thyme branches. You should have 2 to 3 tablespoons of fresh thyme. Place Thyme on chopping board and chop very fine until it resembles coarse crumbs
Preparing your Okra
Step 6-Chop Okra into small bite sized pieces. Place into food processor and blend until it’s minced. This will make frying out the slime much easier and the okra will reduce to half of its size during the frying process. Making room to add additional ingredients.
Preparing your Whole Chicken
If you have a baked whole chicken, then you will proceed to cut the chicken up and parts will be used to make the chicken stock.
Step 7-Place whole chicken into strainer and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
Step 8- Place whole chicken onto chopping board.
Step 9- Using a sharp knife cut back out of chicken
Step 10- Remove Leg Quarters by cutting excessive skin.
Step 11- Separate Chicken leg from chicken thigh by cutting between the joint that holds the thigh and chicken legs
Step 12- Remove the chicken wings by cutting the joint that holds the chicken wing to the chicken breasts
Step 13- Split chicken breasts by cutting right through the chicken breast bone, Remove any excessive skin and fat.
Cleaning and preparing your chicken
Step 14- Using a strainer clean chicken gizzards thoroughly with cold water. Once done Chop each Gizzards in half with sharp knife. Place in fridge.
Step 15- Place chicken breasts into strainer and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Dice chicken breasts into medium bite sized pieces. Season with 1 tablespoon of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning and 1 tablespoon of chef Paul Prudhomme’s poultry magic. Rub seasoning into the chicken breasts using your hands. Wear Gloves
Step 16- Place chicken drumettes into strainer and rinse with cold water. Season with 1 teaspoon of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning and 1 teaspoon of chef Paul Prudhomme’s poultry magic. Rub seasoning into the chicken breasts using your hands. Wear Gloves
Preparing your Sausage
Step 17- Chop 2 pounds of D&D Smoked Sausage into 2/16ths of an inch or 3/16ths of an inch thickness. Place in fridge.
Step 18- Chop 2 pounds of Andouille Smoked Sausage into 2/16ths of an inch or 3/16ths of an inch thickness. Place in fridge.
Making the Hot sausage balls
Step 19- Take a small portion of the hot sausage and roll it into a small ball using your hands. Wear Gloves. You should have close to 20 to 25 hot sausage balls when finished. You can make more if you like. Place in fridge when done.
Preparing your Chicken Stock
If you do not have a slow cooker proceed to step 20A-
Note: If you are using the slow cooker to make your chicken stock then you will have to make this stock 10 hours in advanced before to continue to make the gumbo recipe. When I make my stock, I usually wait until 9pm at night so that way the next morning my stock will be complete.
Chicken Stock– Step 20- In a 7 to 8 Quart slow cooker Add 2 pounds of chicken gizzards. Next Add the whole chicken parts. Add 5 quarts warm water. Add 1 Tablespoon of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning and 1 Tablespoon of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s poultry magic. Stir gently. Cover and let slow cook for 10 hours. This will give you the best possible stock for your gumbo.
Step 21- Once your stock is finished, drain the finished stock into a VERY large bowl with a strainer inside of the bowl. The strainer will strain all the stock leaving only the gizzards and the parts of the whole chicken. Take gizzards and set aside until they are ready to be added into your gumbo.
If you do not have a slow cooker, you will need a 10-to-12-quart pot.
***Preheat fire to medium low heat***
Note- When I make my stock I usually wait until 9pm at night so that way the next morning my stock will be complete.
Step 20A- Place chicken gizzards and parts to a whole chicken into a large pot.
Season with 1 Tablespoon of Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning and 1 Tablespoon of chef Paul Prudhomme’s poultry magic
Step 20B- Add 5 quarts of warm water. Stir all ingredients together.
Step 20C- Step Cover with lid and let slow cook for 10 hours.
Baking your chicken
***Preheat your oven to 400 degrees***
You will need a large pan!
Step 22-Lightly butter the bottom of your baking pan.
Step 23-Line Chicken Drumettes on one side of the pan.
Step 24-Line diced chicken breasts on the opposite side of the pan.
Step 25-Place in a preheated 400-degree oven and let bake for 15 minutes.
This will ensure that your chicken does not break apart in your gumbo.
Frying oil out of Smoked Sausage and Hot Sausage
D&D Smoked Sausage
Step 26- In a large, preheated saucepan, add Smoked Sausage and cover with lid. Let cook for 3 minutes total. Flip sausage onto the opposite side and let fry for 3 minutes. Once finished add Smoked Sausage into strainer with a bowl underneath to catch the drippings.
Andouille Smoked Sausage
Step 27- In a large preheated saucepan Add Andouille Smoked Sausage and cover with lid. Let cook for 4 minutes. Flip sausage onto the opposite side and let fry for 3 minutes. Once finished Add Andouille Smoked Sausage into strainer with a bowl underneath to drain grease out.
Hot Sausage
Step 28- In a large, preheated saucepan, add Hot Sausage balls a lil bit at a time depending on the size of your saucepan. Let fry for about 4 minutes or until the side is a light golden-brown color. Once finished flip or roll onto other side and let that cook for 4 minutes or until the side is a light golden-brown color. Once finished frying all 20 of sausage balls place into strainer with a bowl underneath to drain all the grease out.
Frying slime out of okra
Note: It can take up to 20 or more minutes to fry slime completely out of your okra. Depends on your stove and how much okra you are frying. pay attention to your okra as it is cooking because frying times vary. It can also cook much faster. The shortest time it took for me to fry my okra was 12 minutes and the longest was 25 minutes total.
Step 29- In a large saucepan Add 1/4 Cup of vegetable oil. Let oil get hot for 2 minutes.
Step 30- Add Okra and begin stirring. You must continue to stir until all the slime as COMPLETELY fried out of the okra. The okra will quickly absorb that oil BUT as the slime is fried out that grease will be released from the slime. Within the first 10 minutes the okra will stick together like a ball but after 12 minutes the okra will start to separate. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Accent and stir. Within 18 minutes the okra will separate even more. YOUR OKRA SHOULD BE DONE CLOSE TO 20 MINUTES. REMEMBER FRYING TIMES VARY SO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO YOUR OKRA AS IT IS FRYING.
Step 31-Once your okra is finished It will resemble crumbs and will be slightly toasty. Take okra and place onto a plate lined with napkins. Once you added all the okra, place lots of napkins on top and take the palm of your hand and press down hard. This will remove majority of the oil.
Making the Gumbo
***Preheat fire to Medium high heat***
Step 32- In a large 10 to 12 Quart pot, add your roux and stir. Let it get hot for 2 minutes.
Step 33- Add all chopped seasonings. Yellow Onion (Chopped), Bell pepper (Chopped), Celery (3 ribs Chopped), Garlic (3 to 4 Cloves Chopped), Green Onion (3/4 Cup), Parsley (4 Tablespoons), and Fried Okra. Let cook for 4 minutes Stirring frequently.
Step 34- Add All Stocks- Add 5 Quarts of homemade Chicken stock. Stir for about 1 minute then cover with lid ONLY WITH PART OF THE TOP OPEN TO LET SOME HEAT ESCAPE and let simmer for 1 hour. CAREFUL NOT TO LET YOUR POT OVERFLOW. KEEP CLOSE EYE ON IT TO MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT OVERFLOW.
Step 35- After 1-hour open lid and stir for 1 minutes. Add all of your meat (Gizzards, Smoked Sausage and Hot Sausage)
Note: One of the keys to making a delicious and flavorful Gumbo. You must Season it.
Step 36- Add your seasonings 2 Tablespoons of Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning, 2 Tablespoons of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry magic and 2 tablespoons of Fresh Thyme (Optional) Seasoning Add 2 Teaspoons of Cayenne Pepper Stir all ingredients together.
Step 37- Once you added all of your seasonings cover with lid ONLY WITH PART OF THE TOP OPEN TO LET SOME HEAT ESCAPE and let simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes CAREFUL NOT TO LET YOUR POT OVERFLOW. KEEP CLOSE EYE ON IT TO MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT OVERFLOW.
Step 38- After 1 hour 30 minutes, remove lid and stir for 1 minute. Add Cubed Chicken Breasts and Chicken Drumettes into Gumbo. Stir all ingredients together.
Step 39- Once you added your chicken, cover with lid ONLY WITH PART OF THE TOP OPEN TO LET SOME HEAT ESCAPE and let simmer 30 minutes CAREFUL NOT TO LET YOUR POT OVERFLOW. KEEP CLOSE EYE ON IT TO MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT OVERFLOW.
Step 40- After 30 minutes turn your fire off. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Gumbo File and stir for 1 minute.
Step 41- After 3 hours of cooking your Chicken and Sausage gumbo is done! 🙂 Serve over a small amount of steamed rice and enjoy!
Optional – Making your Grilled Cheese Sandwich
***Preheat fire to medium high heat***
Step 42- Add 1/2 tablespoon of Salted butter into pan. Let melt and spread it around the bottom of your pan.
Step 43-Add a slice of Texas toast and 2 slices of American Cheese. Once done add another slice of Texas toast on top of the American cheese. Let toast for about 3 to 4 minutes. Toasting times vary.
Step 44- Flip grilled cheese over onto the opposite side. Let toast for about 2 to 4 minutes. Toasting times vary
After your toast is has browned on the other side your grilled cheese is now done.
Serve with Gumbo and enjoy.
YouTube instructional video
