Gumbo

This delightfully simple stew is next to impossible to mess up, unless you burn the roux. CATEGORY: Soup Recipe Name: Gumbo Ingredients: 1/2 c flour 1/2 c butter 2 T oil 3 stalk celery, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 1 red onion, diced 6 clove garlic, minced 3 14.5 oz cans chicken broth 1 T sage 1/2 t cayenne 1 t thyme 1 lb andouille, cut into rounds 2 lbs chicken, cut into bite size pieces 2 lbs shrimp, raw, peeled 3 c rice, uncooked 1 T file powder Steps: * in a small fry pan combine flour and butter in pan to make roux, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it turns a deep brown then remove from heat * In a 6qt stock pot put temperature to HI and add oil, onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic and stir occasionally. Once you get it hot lower heat to MED-LOW and put the lid on for 10 minutes to sweat the vegetables. * Mix roux in to coat vegetables and bring back to HI heat * Whisk in chicken stock and bring to boil. Once at a boil drop to MED-LOW heat again * Add sage, thyme, cayenne, andouille & chicken, stir occasionally * In another pan start rice: 3 c rice, 6 c water and 1 T oil, bring to boil, drop to simmer and cover for 20-30 minutes * 5-10 minutes before service remove gumbo from heat and add shrimp and file, stirring well to mix NOTES: Gumbo is a creole stew that has a different variation for just about every family. Summer gumbo has Okra for thickening and winter gumbo has File or ground sassafras root. The dark Roux is not a thickening, but a flavoring agent. Proper gumbo is usually served over a bed of rice and as the entire meal. Some people will serve it over potato salad. In Louisiana the shells are left on the shrimp and eaten. In most other areas people are a little weirded out by this.