Mom's Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

So, I have been slacking with posting the past few weeks! Work has been crazy with lots a shows…and that is a good thing! During the week of craziness I got to go to one of my favorite restaurants, Fat Fish Blue, with a few people from work. Unfortunately it was the last time we will ever get to go because it closed this past Sunday. There are a few other locations in the US, so if you see one go!  

Fat Fish Blue is a Cajun and Creole restaurant, serving some of the New Orleans classics like Po Boys, Gumbo, Jambalaya, Craw Dads, and more. Not only do they serve up great Cajun and Creole grub, they are a venue featuring nationally known Blues artists! What else but the blues would make for an authentic New Orleans experience?!

We started off with an order of buffalo tails for an appetizer, they are craw dad (crayfish) tails fried and covered in buffalo sauce…YUMMY! I will say the first time we ordered them I was a little apprehensive, I had never had crawdads before and had no idea what they would be like. I am so happy I tried them, because they are delicious!

Since it was my last time going, I had to get my favorite dish...gumbo! It was a colder day and it warmed me up for sure. It tasted just like the authentic gumbo I had while in New Orleans this past spring.

The good thing about gumbo is that you can make it at home...my mom makes it often this time of year and I love it! Here is her recipe:

Mom's Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

• 1 rotisserie chicken, store bought, cut into pieces

• 4 medium onions, cut in chunks, peeled first, of course

• celery leaves, all of them from a whole bunch of celery

• Crazy Salt - maybe 3 T.

• water, to barely cover

• 10 cups chicken broth, reserved (use the stock from above, adding canned chicken stock, if necessary)

• 8 slices bacon, sliced into 1/4" pieces (nice, thick hickory smoked bacon)

• 1 pound Andouille sausage or smoked sausage, sliced into half rounds 1/4" thick

• 1 1/2 cups onion, chopped

• 2 large green peppers, chopped

• 3 stalks celery, diced (use all the celery leaves you can...that's where the flavor is!)

• 5 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5 ounce can (I like the fire-roasted ones)

• 1 can tomato sauce, 15 ounce can

• 10 ounces frozen corn

• 20 ounces frozen okra (LOVE my okra!)

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 tablespoon Hot Shot (if you can't find this in the McCormick section, use 1/4-1/2 t. cayenne and the rest fresh ground black pepper)

• Jane's Crazy Salt, to taste (or seasoned salt...but please, look for this magic ingredient!  Even Paula Deen used to use it before she started marketing her own.)

• 1-2 T. file powder (optional) - If you have a Penzey's near you, you can get it there.  It isn't necessary, but it lends a very authentic flavor and also serves to slightly thicken the gumbo. 

In LARGE soup pot, put chicken (yes, the store-bought rotisserie one), onion chunks, celery leaves and Crazy salt; cover with water. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer about 45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken, cool, and set broth aside. Discard onion and celery leaves. Remove chicken from bones. Set aside. (If you wonder why I do it this way...a roasted chicken gives a deeper, richer stock.)

Cook bacon and sausage in the same pot until bacon is crisp and sausage is browned. Remove meats and set aside. There will be lots of brown stuff on the bottom of the pot.  Leave it there!  It will get deeper until you add the stock at the end.  Then, as you stir the soup, the stock will loosen all that browned, rich goodness and give the soup amazing flavor!

Add chopped onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic and cook until vegetables are tender. Stir OFTEN! Add chicken, bacon, sausage, broth, and all the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally - especially get the bottom to get that flavor up into the soup!

Serve in bowls, topped with a scoop of cooked rice - that's the traditional way. Without the rice is good, too!

GLUTEN-FREE NOTE:   Not all rotisserie chickens are gluten-free.  Read the label and/or talk to the store you buy it from.  I get mine at Costco for a lot of reasons...first, it is gluten-free, but check each and every time you buy one.  You never know when the store's recipe will change.  Second, Costco has the biggest and cheapest and BEST rotisserie chicken anywhere.  Period.  (Boston Market also has a GF rotisserie chicken!)