Maw-Maw's Gumbo: Okra, Chicken, & Sausage

Maw-Maw's Gumbo over rice, talk about comfort food!

Maw-Maw's Gumbo is how I used to refer to this gumbo, in time I just started calling it gumbo but I won't forget the person who made this delicious meal, my husband's Maw-Maw from New Orleans and we all know that most grandma's can cook, at least mine and my husband's! When I was dating/engaged to my husband and we would go over to eat at his Maw-Maw & Paw-Paw's house, which was always a treat, his Maw-Maw would make either this or red beans and rice, you can't go wrong with either. When we got married I called his Maw-Maw up one day and asked her, "Maw-Maw, how do you make your gumbo?" She told me over the phone because at the time we were living in Washington State and she in New Orleans, and I wrote it all down and I am so glad I have this recipe because she has passed. My son loves this dish and he requested it most recently to be his birthday dinner so of course, I made it! Oh yeah, one more thing, you need time to prepare this meal, it is not done in an hour, more like 3 so plan to make it when you have the time or ahead of time, it freezes quite nicely as well. I have even made this meal and froze it in individual servings and the only thing needed was to make rice to serve it over. This meal serves about 6 adults, possibly 8, but 6 generously for sure.

INGREDIENTS:

2 jars of that brand Texas okra

1 pack of Hillshire Farm smoked sausage

I pack of Italian sausage, I like the hot kind and I use it every time

1 package of boneless, skinless chicken breast, usually 3 breasts suffice

2-3 bay leaves

1 large onion, chopped

1 large tomato, peeled and chopped(drop your tomato into the boiling water with the sausage, picture down below, the skin will crack and be easy to remove)

Cayenne pepper to taste

Tony Chachere's Spice

Tony Chachere's Creole Instant Roux Mix

White rice, at least 1 cup per person

DIRECTIONS:

Tony Chachere’s spice, sold at Wal-Mart, it is pronounced Tony Sasheries and it is a Creole seasoning in a big green container sold in the spice section. It is used mostly in the place of salt and pepper in the South. Use it sparingly because it also has cayenne pepper in it and too much will burn your mouth and also make the meal too salty.

Tony Chachere’s Roux mix, pronounced roo, it is in the same kind of container as the other but it is yellow(see picture down below). It thickens and adds flavor. Wal-Mart sells this. Use a sprinkle or two.

Boil the two sausage brands together for about an hour or so to get out most of the grease. I usually puncture the hot Italian sausage while boiling to allow the built up grease to escape during the boiling process (you will see what I mean when it starts to boil, orange-red pockets form in the sausage that look like blisters and you can't help but want to pop them, do it, it drains more fat out of the meat). During that boiling process I usually throw the tomato in to get it peeled. While the sausage is boiling I cut up the okra, the onion, and the raw chicken breast into bite-sized pieces, and then once the tomato is ready to peel from the boiling water, peel it, then dice that up as well. Put all together in a large enough pot to hold all the ingredients plus the sausage, once the sausage is done boiling, cut it up in slices and add to pot with other ingredients and then add the bay leaves and other spices including the roux mix., the Tony Chachere’s one. Add enough water to cover the contents and then some. It will boil down. Once the sausage is done boiling, cut it up in slices and add to pot with other ingredients and then add the bay leaves and other spices including the roux mix, the Tony Chachere’s one.

Once all has come to a boil, turn to a simmer, uncovered, and cook for 2-3 hours, now after the first initial boiling, you will need to make your own Roux mix. Take about 3-4 tbsp of flour and about the same amount of oil to make wet but not runny like an egg. Put into a frying pan and fry the flour/oil mixture until it browns and thickens. Be careful not to burn it, it will smell burnt if you do then you have to throw it out and start over. Once it has browned and thickened add it to the gumbo and stir, this is going to give it the golden color that gumbo has and thicken it a bit, now you don’t want it thick like a stew, you want it a little bit thinner than that, so if it starts to thicken more during cooking then just add some more water till the right consistency but then you may have to season more because you will have diluted it a bit. Always taste to make sure seasoned enough.

Talk O' Texas Okra, I prefer the hot but the store doesn't always carry it and the reason I like this kind of okra is because it is not slimy like fresh okra is or even the frozen variety.

My spices of choice, a must!

Dropping tomato into boiling water with the sausages.

See how the skin splits and it can peel easily.

Easy to peel tomato. Peel once cool to touch.

Skinned tomato.

Diced tomatoes, onion, and okra awaiting the other ingredients.

The roux making process, the beginning.

The roux turning brown, this is how it should look before you stir it into the boiling gumbo pot.

Already brought to a boil once, now the Roux has been added, from here you let it simmer uncovered for about 2 hours at least.

After simmering for 2 hours, see how some evaporates out. This is normal, this is where you can correct if you made it too thick with your roux, just add a bit more water, some like it thick, some like it thinner, you are the one who determines the consistency. I like mine just in between, not too thick and not too thin. Serve over white rice and enjoy!