My mother perfected her gumbo recipe during one of LSU’s many fantastic football seasons years ago. She insisted on showing my brother and me how to make it, rather than just emailing the recipe. That moment we learned gumbo from her, was one I will never forget. I felt like I had just been passed the Holy Grail, or discovered electricity. It’s more than just a recipe in our family. It is a true event. Generally we spend a couple of days making it, and then a couple of days enjoying it also. I have to steal from my brother’s fine wording on his MySpace blog just a little here. He described learning mom’s gumbo so well.

“…after today, my quest for the family gumbeaux knowledge was passed down from my role model, the Reba McIntyre look-a-like, yes.. my Mother. In the kitchen we stirred, sliced, chopped, smelled, tasted, blessed, waited, laughed, stirred again, blessed again, and laughed again. To the outside world, gumbeaux is a lot of stuff in a pot that comes from south Louisiana, and is usually served in Cajun restaurants. To me it’s a family tradition. A symbol of love, unity, and good times. Thank God for okra.”
gumbomom4

Above, my mom and her gumbo. I will post more pictures in days to come. For now, here is our family recipe for chicken and sausage gumbo using the oven to create the roux. The oven saves so much time and is so easy.

Ingredients
½ cup oil
½ cup flour
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cups chopped celery
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 package frozen chopped okra
2 lb smoked sausage (a mix of Eckermann’s garlic sausage and then jalapeño sausage is my favorite combination)
10-20 chicken thighs
1 T Louisiana Crab and Shrimp Boil (powder form)
Tony Chachere’s cajun seasoning in green can, Salt, and pepper to taste
Thyme
2 bay leafs
Allegra Original Flavor Marinade
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes

The day before, prepare your chicken and stock. Boil chicken in water, cool and debone. Save broth and chicken in the refrigerator. OR you can save time by purchasing boneless, skinless chicken and using store bought broth.

Preheat oven to 375. Put the oil and flour into a large dutch oven (cast iron is best) and whisk together. Place on the top shelf in the oven for about an hour. Stir about 3 -4 times during the process.

While the roux is cooking, cut up your vegetables, sausage, and chicken and sip on a cold beverage. This makes the experience that much better. Also if you made your chicken stock the night before remove the pot from the refrigerator skim off the fat and let the stock get to room temperature.

When the roux is done, it will be a light brown color. The darker you get it the more flavorful the gumbo. I like mine a golden brown color, like peanut butter. Remove the pot from the oven carefully and place on the stovetop over medium high heat.

Add onions and celery and stir until vegetables start to become tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add chopped tomato, a dash of salt, pepper, Tony’s (or cayenne pepper), a dash of thyme and two bay leaves and stir. Add chicken stock and stir. Add frozen okra, bottle of Allegra, 1 T Shrimp and Crab boil, Rotel tomatoes, sausage. Stir well and bring to a boil. This is the point where you say your Cajun blessing: Its gonna be goooooo!!

Reduce heat and let simmer 1-2 hours. Add large pieces of the cooked chicken after 1-2 hours. Simmer another hour or so. The longer it cooks on low, the better it tastes. Serve over rice with French bread. MMMMMmmmmmm!

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