3/4 cup chicken fat or canola oil
3/4 cup flour
2 large onions, chopped
1 large chicken, cut into twelve pieces
2 tablespoons from My Creole Spice Jar
2 pounds spicy smoked sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 quarts Chicken Stock
1 tablespoon thyme
2 bay leaves
6 ounces andouille sausage, roughly chopped
2 cups sliced okra
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
Tabasco
Salt and pepper
6 cups cooked white rice
Make a roux by heating the fat in a large heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot fat. It will immediately begin to sizzle. Reduce the heat to medium and continue whisking until the roux turns a deep brown color, about 15 minutes. Add the onions, stirring them into the roux with a wooden spoon. Lower the heat to medium low and continue stirring until the roux turns a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.
Season the chicken pieces with the Creole spices and add the chicken to the hot roux. Once the chicken is well seared, add the smoked sausage and stir well. Then add the celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, and garlic. Raise the heat to medium high, stir for another 3 minutes or so, then add the stock, thyme, and bay leaves.
Bring the gumbo to a boil while stirring, then reduce the heat to medium low and let simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally and skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo (moving the pot half off the burner helps collect the impurities).
Add the andouille sausage, okra, and Worcestershire, season well with Tabasco, salt and pepper, and simmer for another 45 minutes. Skim the gumbo before serving with the white rice.
Besh Big Easy text copyright (C) 2015 John Besh and Dorothy Kalins, Ink, LLC