Recipes
Authentic Chicken Gumbo
My family lived in Louisiana for 5 years when I was young, right on Bayou LaFourche in REAL Cajun country, south of New Orleans.
The food, the people, and the environment were so unique it was like being in a foreign country. Life was great – filled with good food, friends, parties, festivals and people speaking Cajun French.
I remember most going to Mama Pietre’s (prounounced Mau-mau Peet) every Sunday for lunch. A dozen friends and family members would eat a huge pot of gumbo with fried chicken and fresh French bread. Mmmmm! Sha-bonjour!
Serve with Fried Chicken or fried shrimp, fresh French Bread, and Bread Pudding for dessert. (See below for how to identify good french bread.)
Serves: 8-10
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30-45 minutes
Ready
- Chicken (I use 2 skinless/boneless breasts)
- ¼ cup cooking oil
- 6 Tbsp flour
- 5 cups boiling/hot water
- ¼ cup chopped celery
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 1 lb sliced Polska kielbasa, Polish or smoked sausage
- Cooked rice
Options:
- This dish can also include or be exclusively made with Shrimp.
- Oysters are an interesting addition if you like them.
- The Cajuns often put okra (pronounced okrey) in their gumbo, but I have omitted it here out of personal preference.
Set
- Deep cooking pot
- Large skillet
Go!
- Add chopped onion, celery and sausage to lightly oiled skillet. Stir fry till sausage is browned.
- Heat ¼ cup oil in cooking pot over med to med/low heat.
- Lightly brown outside of chicken. Remove chicken.
- Critical Step – the roux: Add flour to the warm oil (med to med/low heat), stirring constantly. DO NOT walk away. Stir until the roux is thick and a beige-brown color. (The smell is quite unusual.)
- Add cooked onion, celery and sausage.
- Add 5 cups of boiling water.
- Chop chicken and add to gumbo.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Simmer 30-45 minutes, or until you can’t wait any longer!
- Serve over rice with lightly toasted French Bread.
Recommendations
- Roux is pronounced like roo (rhymes with boo). See Wikipedia.org for Roux and Gumbo definitions.
- A good French Bread is crunchy on the outside but very, very soft on the inside. Buy fresh if you can find. If not, test it: should be very soft when you squeeze, and very airy and light. The top should be lightly brown. I often get the Francisco brand from the market. Toast it till it’s crunchy, then slice and butter. Mmmm!