This is a recipe I sort of came up with on my own. It's an amalgam of several gumbo recipes. "gumbo" is an African word, meaning "okra". But this recipe instead uses file' powder to thicken it at the table, rather than okra in the ingredients. Purists will insist that if it doesn't have okra, it isn't gumbo. However the French Creoles in the country north of New Orleans made gumbo without okra all the time.
Anyhow, here goes...
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil (or bacon grease)
1 bell pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
2-3 stalks celery chopped
2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1" pieces
1 lb. smoked sausage cut into 1/4" thick rounds
1 bay leaf
2 small to medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Chicken stock - 2 or more cups
Tony Chachere's creole seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Gumbo file' powder
Cayenne pepper
long grain white rice
Start by chopping your "trinity" of onions, bell pepper and celery, then put them together in a bowl and set them aside, along with the minced garlic. Then in a big cast iron skillet, brown the chicken and sausage well, and set aside.
In a big pot, add flour and oil (or bacon grease) and over medium-high heat, keep stirring until the flour turns chocolate brown. This is making a roux. You have to stir constantly or it will burn and you'll need to start over. Any black flecks of burnt flour will ruin the flavor.
As soon as the roux gets close to the chocolate brown color, add in the chopped vegetables. This will help prevent the roux from burning. Keep the vegetables moving in the pot just to be safe, for another 30 seconds to a minute. You want them to wilt and glaze a little. They will smell just awesome at this point.
After the veggies have wilted some, then you can add 2 cups of chicken stock, and then the chicken and sausage, and the bay leaf. Also add about 2 level teaspoons of the Tony Chachere's creole seasoning, and add about 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. If you need more liquid, add just enough to barely cover the contents of the pot. You want them all to be wet, but not so much as to thin out the soup too much. Let this simmer on medium-low heat for an hour. After an hour, taste it and add Tony's seasoning until the heat level is to your liking, then add salt until the salt level is to your liking. Before serving, skim off the excess oil from the surface. Oxo makes a great oil separator for the purpose that is a lot easier than trying to scoop it all up with a spoon. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
While the gumbo is simmering for an hour, you can start your rice so it will be ready when the gumbo is done.
To serve, use wide brimmed soup bowls and place a scoop of white rice in the center of the bowl, then ladle the gumbo around the outside. You can sprinkle about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of file powder onto the gumbo, and a little more on the brim of the bowl and the top of the rice for a garnish. Do the same with a tiny bit of cayenne pepper for color.
This is best served with some french bread garlic toast.
This same recipe can be modified by eliminating the sausage, and using a lot less chicken stock. The chicken breasts are increased from 2 to 4. Brown them as before and set aside. Make the roux in a deep skillet instead of a pot. When the roux is ready, add the veggies and then just enough chicken stock to keep from burning, then simmer covered over low heat for an hour until the chicken is fully cooked and tender. Taste and season as before. Serve this over rice and you'll have a nice chicken fricassee.!