- 1 pound andouille sausage
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil (I use grapeseed because that’s what I have)
- 1 cup flour (I use wheat)
- 2 bell peppers, cored and diced
- 3 celery stalks
- 1 small onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 quart jar stewed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning (my kids will eat this but I cut it down if my mom’s coming to visit)
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne (I leave it out when serving kids or grandmas)
- 4 bay leaves
- 1/2 c small-cut cauliflower (leave out if freezing. Not authentic but I like to pack veggies in and it’s not too far-fetched in a gumbo)
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 cup okra (if you have it. We don’t, usually)
- 1 pound peeled and deveined raw shrimp (mine’s frozen)
- salt and pepper
- Prepared rice
- Optional toppings: green onions, fresh parsley, or avocados (Avocados aren’t authentic but they are delicious).
Slice sausages. In a regular-sized frying pan, brown sausage coins (2-ish minutes). Place in crock pot.
While the sausages are browning, I start slicing my trinity of vegetables (peppers, celery, and onion). It carries over into my roux stage, but I’m pretty fast at dicing and my stove is right next to my cutting board. If you don’t have ideal circumstances, definitely do the mis en place version and slice your veggies first! And do it as fast as you can at the beginning of your roux, because toward the end it goes much faster.
Once the pan is available, add the oil and begin slowly adding flour, mixing in as you go. It will be pastey. This is called a roux. It’s a staple in cajun cuisine. Turn the temperature down to medium. If you’re still slicing veggies, stir your roux about every quarter of each of the vegetables, but adjust based on need. Don’t burn your roux! If you do, start over on it!
Once your roux is about the color of chocolate (20-30 mins. It starts slow but gains momentum), add the trinity. Mix it around and it kind of coats the veggies. Then mash and finely dice the garlic. After the veggies have been in the pot around 5-8 minutes, add the garlic to the mixture. Cook it one more minute, stirring constantly. The veggies should just be turning translucent and soft. Add the whole mixture to the crockpot.
Add in the chicken stock and mix it around to encorporate everything. Then add the stewed tomatoes, creole seasoning, paprika, cayenne, and bay leaves. Set crock pot to low. It will need to simmer 4-6 hours.
At any point, depending on preference (I add about halfway through, but have added it at the beginning before), add chicken, okra, and cauliflower.
Half an hour before serving, defrost the shrimp under hot water and add it to the pot. If your shrimp is defrosted, add it at 20 minutes. This is also when I start my rice (unless I’m using day-old rice. I do, regularly).
The gumbo is ready when the shrimp are pinkish and opaque, not clear. They also kind of curl in on themselves.
Adjust salt and pepper, as needed. Remove bay leaves.
To serve, place rice in a bowl, pour gumbo over the top, and add toppings of choice, if desired.
To freeze: don’t freeze it with the rice or if you added the cauliflower! But you can still freeze it with the proteins. Let cool. Scoop desired amounts into ziploc freezer bags. Freezes for approximately 3 months with shrimp, 6 months without it.
