Chicken Sausage Gumbo
One of the most iconic dishes of Southern Louisiana cuisine is gumbo, a rich stew traditionally composed of a thickener such as roux (cooked mixture of flour and fat) or okra, the “holy trinity” (celery, bell pepper and onion), sausage, shell fish cooked for an extended period of time. The stew is served over rice unlike another iconic stew that hails from the Big Easy, jambalaya, where the rice is part of the stew itself.
The Recipe
So the motivation behind the gumbo and the recipe itself actually comes from Cooks Illustrated. One of my friends recently received a subscription to the magazine. Each issue takes a few popular traditional recipes and attempts to “perfect” the recipe in some manner as well as make it more accessible to the average cook. This revision of the traditional chicken sausage gumbo recipe aimed to keep the time and effort from pot to meal small as well as keeping the ingredient list relatively simple.
The Roux
One of the most interesting techniques in French and French influenced kitchens including Cajun and Creole is the use of roux to thicken stews and sauces. Roux is a mixture of fat and flour cooked over a period of time. It is pronounced like the end of kangaroo, making it a fun term to talk about. The color of the resulting roux changes the influence it has on the dish. Rouxs can be almost as light as the flour itself or as dark as that of an old penny. For this dish we wanted a dark roux, similar in color to that of cinnamon and nutty in flavor. Traditionally the roux is prepared on the stove top by cooking equal parts fat (commonly butter) and flour. This recipe though used a surprising method of preparation for the roux. The flour was toasted in the oven for 50 minutes and then incorporated with chicken broth. This method of preparing the roux is much less labor intensive since you don’t need to continuously stir to avoid burning the fat. But I can’t help feeling that something is lost through this method.
The Holy Trinity
Many cuisines have a staple set of vegetables that build the flavor base in the dishes. For Indian cuisine, its onions, ginger and garlic. For Italian cuisine, you have the soffritto, a mixture of carrots, onions and celery. For Cajun and Creole cooking, you have the Holy Trinity: onions, bell peppers and celery. The name alluding to the importance of both these ingredients and religion to the traditional Louisiana kitchen. Regardless of whether you are making Cajun gumbo or Creole Jambalaya or even étouffée, you will find the Holy Trinity.
Preparation
Now that we have some background on this lovely southern stew. Let’s talk about actually making it. As mentioned before we start by beginning to toast the flour in a skillet in the oven at 425. While this occurs we begin to cook the celery, onions and bell pepper that will start the flavors of our stew. After the trinity has had time to soften and cook. We add the strong herbal and spice flavors of bay leaves, paprika, cayenne, thyme and garlic and chicken broth. Into this lovely stock, we add the chicken thighs to braise in the covered pot. The intention of the recipe is that once the chicken is cooked through, the roux should be ready to be incorporated. Handy! In addition the chicken at this point is removed and shredded. By shredding it instead of chopping it before cooking the meat will be more moist since their will be less surface area during cooking to dry out. The roux immediately darkens the bright stock to a deep brown that we want. Finally put everything back together into the pot and let heat and time do its work. In my experience, it is very rare that I find the estimate that recipes give on how long you should let a stew simmer to reduce down and concentrate in flavor is accurate or even close to the amount of time actually needed. This recipe is not an exception.
A Little Extra Color
Although gumbo by itself is a hearty meal, it is a heavy meal. To lighten the plates a bit as well as make sure that the guests don’t go hungry. My friend and I decided to add beets and carrots to the dish. It also adds lovely color. No fancy recipe here just beets sliced into coins and carrots sliced into match sticks with olive oil and backed at 425 degrees. It does make the plate look just a bit more colorful.
Conclusion
This recipe from Cook’s Illustrated is an interesting twist on an old dish. It very much accomplishes it goals of being an efficient recipe with minimal interaction with the dish and relatively easy cleanup. If the roux was made as most recipes call for it would involve significantly more active cooking as well as just plain “elbow grease”. In addition you would either have to prepare the roux ahead of time or divide your time between the roux and the stock. The dish did came out delicious and was fully consumed by my guests.
Despite all this, I am left a little disappointed. I am a bit of a traditionalist (despite having no good reason), so I expect roux to be made with flour and butter and you need to work for that dark roux. In addition the two ingredients that give the richest flavors, the chicken and the roux spend too much time outside the pot! Finally I love shrimp. Jambalaya and gumbo are just better with shrimp. So although this recipe was good, it left me yearning to make gumbo again, but this time “right”, with shrimp and a traditional roux. It will take me an extra hour or two, but I believe it is worth it. 3.75/5