Chicken Sausage Gumbo

You know you’re a foodie when you plan themed meals around holidays, observances and any and all ethnic festivals.  This past weekend was no exception.  Some celebrate Fat Tuesday.  Others flip over Pancake Day.  In this house, we do both.

It’s fun to throw some new meals in the mix and for Fat Tuesday (which we celebrated on Presidents’ Day), I wanted some true New Orleans style gumbo.  So, of course I turned to Pinterest and shared its wonderful world with Iron Chef Allan.  Better than a Google search, within seconds I had hundreds of visually appealing recipes.

As we read the different versions, we both agreed that Kaela of Local Kitchen’s Chicken Sausage Gumbo looked and sounded best.

However, making a roux was definitely out of my cooking comfort zone, but I knew Iron Chef Allan could handle the challenge.  Boy, did my man ever deliver!

In her recipe write-up, Kaela explains the importance of okra in the recipe if not for anything but authenticity, however, Iron Chef Allan is not an okra lover.  And really, is anyone?   Although I was willing to give okra infused gumbo a go, Allan was not and since he was preparing the dish, the okra got eighty-sixed.

But sometimes you don’t miss what you don’t know, because my man made some crazy good gumbo!   This had to be the best tasting gumbo outside of New Orleans, even if he did omit the okra.

And of course to wash it down, only an Abita beer would do.  The sweetness of an Abita’s Purple Haze is the perfect complement to this savory and oh so spicy dish.

For dessert, we had king cake which was store-bought.  (Hey, only one new recipe challenge at a time!) Next time, maybe I’ll try my hand at this interesting bread machine king cake recipe.

On second thought, being President’s Day and all, cherry pie may have been a better choice for dessert.  Nah, the king cake was a perfect finish to our NOLA meal.  I cannot tell a lie.

Do you like to plan themed meals that revolve around holidays, observances or ethnic celebrations?

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

(adapted from Local Kitchen)

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken meat, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 lb Andouille sausage

2 Tbsp canola oil

For the roux

1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/3 cup vegetable oil

4 cups chicken stock

1 large onion, diced

3 ribs celery, with leaves if possible, sliced

2 bell peppers, any color, diced

1-bunch scallions, white & light green parts sliced

6 – 8 cloves, peeled & minced

1 red jalapeno, with seeds & ribs, minced

½ lb okra, sliced

3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

2 tsp Cajun seasoning (a mix of paprika, salt, celery, sugar, garlic, black pepper, onion, oregano, red pepper, caraway, dill, turmeric, cumin, bay, mace, cardamom, basil, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme)

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp celery salt

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp dried thyme

1 dried bay leaf

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Brown meat. In a large skillet, brown the sausages over medium-high heat in canola oil. Remove sausage to a clean plate. Liberally sprinkle chicken pieces with salt, pepper and Cajun spice. Brown lightly in the sausage grease (add oil if needed), without crowding the pan; cook in batches if necessary. Do not cook all the way through; remove to the sausage plate when lightly browned on the outside. Strain sausage grease into a clean bowl.

Make roux. In a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, cook the flour and canola oil (using any leftover sausage grease as part of the oil) over medium to medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until roux becomes smooth, silky and a deep chocolate brown, about 30 minutes (or longer at lower heat). Monitor the roux carefully as you stir: if you smell the flour burning, lower the heat; if you see black flecks in the roux, it is burnt, throw it out and start over. When the roux reaches the right color, add the onion, bell pepper and celery to the roux, turn off the heat, and keep stirring until the roux cools down.

Assemble and cook the gumbo.  Add stock, meat (with any juices accumulated on the plate), white & pale green scallions, garlic, jalapeno and spices to the roux and vegetables.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for about 45 minutes.  Add the okra and cook for another 30 minutes, partially covered.  Add fresh parsley (add any seafood now if using).  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Remove cover and simmer an additional 15 minutes or longer to thicken the sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings one more time.

Serve hot over rice.  Garnish with parsley and sliced scallions.

Serves 12.

*Also shared at*

In a Mardi Gras Mood

With all the talk of Fat Tuesday activities a couple weeks ago, I had a hankering for some Creole cuisine.  So I tried my hand at some red beans and rice and man, it satisfied my N’awlins need.  I attempted to recreate the red beans and rice dish at our own NOLA Café in Tampa and I think I did a damn good job.

 

Since it’s difficult to find MSG-free and nitrites free Andouille sausage in these parts, I substituted the Andouille sausage for Al Fresco Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausage.  (Next time, I’d like to try Al Fresco Spicy Jalepeno Chicken Sausage or the Tofurky Kielbasa just to see how that works in place of the Andouille sausage.)  I topped it with some Crystal hot sauce for some extra heat and no one was the wiser.  It was so good, y’all. The only thing missing was the king cake.

 

*ETA March 31, 2011: Archer Farms makes an Andouille Sausage that is MSG and nitrites/nitrates free, which can be found in the meat section at your local SuperTarget or purchased on-line at Target.com.  I used two links in place of the Al Fresco sausage in the recipe below and froze the rest for the next time I’m in a Mardi Gras mood.  The Archer Farms Andouille Sausage offered just the right amount of heat and zest for my N’awlins nosh.*

 

 

Run DMT’s Delicious Red Beans and Rice Dish

2 cans of dark red kidney beans, unrinsed

1 package Al Fresco Sundried Tomato Chicken Sausage, quartered

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 bell pepper, diced

1 sweet onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried sage

1 cup water

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1 cup brown rice

 

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan.  Sauté onions, peppers and celery in olive oil until softened.

 

While the vegetables (trinity) are sautéing, slice sausage link in half lengthwise.  Then, slice the links again in half.

 

Once the trinity has softened in the pan, add bay leaves and garlic and let simmer with the vegetables for a minute.  Add sliced sausage and let sauté for about 5 minutes.  Then, add unrinsed canned kidneys beans, thyme, sage and red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and water.  Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

 

For the rice, bring 1 cup of rice in a knuckle deep of water to a boil in a cover pot.  Once boiling, lower heat to a very low simmer and simmer with lid on for 45 minutes or until rice is fluffy.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

 

*Also submitted at*

The Sweetness of Pancake Day

I first flipped over Pancake Day (Shrove Thuesday) as a student teacher interning in England when my housemates shared this tasty tradition with me. Although English pancakes are more flat like crêpes and topped with lemon juice and sugar, it didn’t prevent me from partaking in the feast.

 

When I met my Scottish hubbie, it only seemed natural to continue with the Pancake Day fun year after year.  However, we modified the British tradition slightly with American-style pancakes and syrup.

 

During my teaching career, I shared Pancake Day with my students.  I stuffed them with fluffy flapjacks as they wrote flavorful essays to demonstrate their knowledge and enthusiasm of the day.

 

When I became a mom, I hosted Pancake Day play dates for our mommy friends and their children. After moving to our new neighborhood in 2006, we introduced Pancake Day to our Moms on the Go friends the following year and of course, they flipped over the fun too.  We read stories while eating pancakes and even held pancake relays in the true spirit of the day.

 

Now, every year my children look forward to eating pancakes all day long with their friends on Pancake Day.

 

But, I simply savor every sweet morsel and memory this day has always served.