Smoked Chicken Gumbo
Gumbo is one of the most popular meals I make for the Schremser and Glasper children. They all get rather excited to hear I’m making Gumbo for dinner. Grown-ups love it too. My husband loves smoking chickens on his smoker. It’s one of his favorite things to do on weekends that aren’t filled with soccer games or travel. He usually does 3-4 birds at a time. I shred the meat off them and freeze it for use in later meals. It saves me to have delicious smoked chicken on hand in the freezer. I then make a massive batch of smoked chicken stock with the bones. It’s delicious and adds a depth of flavor to pots of beans or soups. I also keep this in the freezer.
I’ve had many ask me for the recipe, but I’ve never actually measured ingredients until this week. I’m a firm believer that the amounts of vegetables or meats in recipes can be tweaked to your tastes, so by all means tweak away.
Roux should be a rich golden brown color when finished.
Ingredients
1 lb andouille sausage (we like chicken sausage, but use pork as well)
2 onions
1 bunch of celery
2-3 green peppers (any color of pepper will work)
1 tablespoon garlic (I confess, most of the time I cheat and use a jar of minced, I have 6 kids and have to be practical)
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Worcestershire
2-3 cups shredded smoked chicken (plain will work too, but smoked is amazing)
8 cups of smoked chicken stock (or 4 cups stock/4 water)
2 cans diced tomatoes
2-3 cups of sliced okra (I use frozen)
a few dashes of Cholula or your favorite hot sauce
Step 1
Chop onions, celery, and peppers into medium or large-sized pieces and leave to the side (if you have kids who are a little more difficult about their veggies, I recommend smaller pieces, I find kids complain less if veggies are in smaller bites). Slice each sausage lengthwise in half and then slice each half into bite-sized pieces. In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, saute sausage in some olive oil until browned. Add onions, celery, and peppers with some more olive oil (1 tbsp) to the pan, and saute until tender.
Step 2
While the veggies saute, you can begin making your roux. In a small saucepan, melt butter (6 tablespoons) and flour (3/4 cup) together over medium heat. At first, it will look like an unappetizing clump of flour. Keep stirring frequently for 5-10 minutes, until the roux turns a rich golden brown. Remove from heat once you reach this color. Add garlic (1 tbsp) to Dutch oven with veggies and sausage, and saute for 1 additional minute.
Step 3
Add roux to the Dutch oven with the veggies and sausage and stir well. Add Worcestershire (1/2 cup) and stir well. Add chicken stock, smoked chicken, and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer. At this point, you can simmer for several hours, stirring every so often. I typically add okra about 30-60 minutes before I want to serve the gumbo. Before serving, you should taste the gumbo, if you haven’t yet. Tasting food as you go, allows you to make necessary tweaks to turn so-so into delicious. I usually add salt, pepper, and some dashes of hot sauce. (If you didn’t have smoked chicken stock and smoked chicken, you may need to be more generous with seasonings and/or Worcestershire, to build more flavor).
Step 4
Time to eat! I typically serve with rice or grits, a fresh salad, and cornbread. If you have leftovers, this gumbo freezes really well. It’s the perfect thing to pull out of the freezer in a pinch on a busy weeknight.
