Recipes

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

By: The Local Palate

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You can find chicken and sausage gumbo all over Louisiana—tucked away in home kitchens, on menus in tiny mom-and-pop restaurants, and in dining spots like chef Donald Link’s New Orleans bakery La Boulangerie. It’s one of my favorite treats. Making a chicken and sausage gumbo is a bit less expensive than making an elaborate seafood gumbo. In this classic, you’ll need a medium roux and smoked sausage.

NOTES: The sausage you use can be andouille or whatever is available in your neck of the woods. Sausage is so complex and delicious that you won’t go wrong.

There are different ways to go about making a roux. You can start over very high heat, whisking vigorously for a couple of minutes until the roux starts taking on color, then reduce the heat to medium-low and stir until it’s the color of peanut butter. You must be very attentive and not leave the roux’s side; this takes about 10 minutes. Those first 10 minutes are crucial; because cooking fat and flour on a high setting can cause some burns, be very careful if you choose this route. Alternatively, you can slowly cook the roux over medium-low heat for 20 to 30 minutes and achieve the same color. I’ve even seen people cook their roux on the stove until it reaches the color of peanut butter, then put it in the oven, coming back to stir it every so often.

recipe

yields

Serves 8 to 12

Ingredients:

1 3 to 4-pound (1.4 to 1.8 kg) chicken, skin removed, broken down into 4 to 6 pieces, with back and neck
2 tablespoons hot sauce, preferably Original Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup (240 ml) plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
1 pound (455 g) smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) rounds (see Notes)
2 quarts (1.9 L) chicken stock (page 348)
1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
3 pounds (1.4 kg) yellow onions, finely diced
1 cup (100 g) finely diced celery
1 cup (145 g) finely diced green bell peppers
1 bay leaf
Cooked rice, for serving
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion, for garnish

steps

In a large bowl, season the chicken pieces with the hot sauce, salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Let the chicken come to room temperature.
Warm a large heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat, then add 1 teaspoon of the oil and heat for 1 minute. Add the sausage, reduce the heat to medium, and sear the sausage until brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the sausage to a bowl and set aside. Add a little stock or water to deglaze the pot and scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom, then pour the deglazing liquid over the sausage. Clean the pot and return it to the stove.
Warm the pot over medium-low for 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 cup (240 ml) oil and heat for 20 seconds. Stir in the flour, then continuously stir the mixture for 20 to 30 minutes so you don’t burn the roux and it develops flavor. This will give you a peanut butter–colored roux.
Add the yellow onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring every couple of minutes, for 30 minutes more, to let the onions caramelize. Do not let the onions burn or you will ruin all your hard work on the roux (see Notes). If the onions start to stick too much, deglaze with a little of the stock.
Push the onions to the side of the pot and place half of the chicken on the bottom of the pot. Rearrange the onions so they cover this first batch of chicken, then add the remaining pieces of chicken to the pot. Don’t worry about moving every piece of onion. Raise the heat to medium and brown the chicken for 4 minutes on each side, trying to keep the chicken skin in contact with the pot.
Add the celery, bell peppers, and bay leaf and stir everything together. Cover, reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting, and set a timer for 1½ hours. Halfway through the cooking time, stir the pot and make sure the heat is low enough to smother the chicken and not burn it. After 1½ hours, the chicken should be completely falling apart. Stir in the remaining stock and the reserved smoked sausage. Bring to a simmer and cook, without letting the gumbo boil, for 30 minutes. Just look for small bubbles rising from the bottom to the top, not a rolling boil.
Serve with the rice and garnish with the parsley and green onion.

Date Published: 12.05.24