Recipe: Louisiana Chicken Gumbo

For what ever reason soups are a favorite dish at our house. Summer or winter I get requests for soup if I ask what I should fix for dinner. The core of this recipe comes from my son's Louisiana relatives.   I have made some modifications to fit the way I cook, but this is the real deal for authentic Cajun Gumbo. 

As my son pointed out, the main modification is that is does not include fowl shot in the backyard but chicken from a store:-)

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Servers 8 once; or magnificent leftovers once or twice for 2 or 4

4 chicken thighs/ skinned and boneless chopped into bite size pieces
2 chicken breasts/skinned and boneless chopped into bite size pieces
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 small yellow onion finely chopped
4 stalks of celery finely chopped
1 small green pepper finely chopped
64 oz of unsalted chicken broth
2 Tbls of butter
2 Tbls of flour
Red pepper flakes to taste
File to taste
Black pepper to taste
Sea salt to taste
2 cups of steamed rice (see below)

Saute butter in a large pot until bubbling add flour and stir constantly for approximately 20 minutes. You want to create a very rich brown and nutty smelling roux. If you see ANY brown flecks in the roux discard and start over or the dish will be ruined. The roux must not burn. You can double or triple the roux recipe and store roux in the refrigerator for future use.

Add the garlic, onion, celery and green pepper to the roux. Saute until soft. Add the black pepper covered chicken and stir until the chicken is cooked. Add the broth and some red pepper flake and salt. Cook on the stove at low heat for at least 3 or 4 hours. The sauce will start to thicken and the vegetables will break down.

Prepare the rice.

Add 2 cups of rice to 2 1/2 cups of water. Let it boil uncovered and then cover and reduce heat and cook for 3o minutes.

To serve

Put rice in the bottom of the bowl, add file powder and red pepper to taste. Pour gumbo onto mixture and serve.

Enjoy!