HAPPY FATTY TUESDAY Mardi Gras EVERYONE! May your Roux have many colors as your beads… or the other way around? Not appropriate? Eh. Oh well. This is a classic Chicken and Andouille Gumbo. If you haven’t made Gumbo before, this is a great start. Now everyone kind of makes theirs a little different, and its like chili in the way everyone will claim theirs is the best, award winning gumbo, ever! Well I am not here to quite claim that, but it is purty darn tasty. Some you will notice make their roux in the same pot as everything else, this one definitely takes time and patience and I do make mine separately. It is just what I was taught and I stuck with it. Once you get this down you can play around with different additions, such as seafood and whatnot. But for now, I hope you enjoy this gumbo! Perfectly paired with some rice, or in some parts of Louisiana, I have been told serve it with potato salad. We have had it this way before and it is FANTASTIC as well. But anyways, I hope you enjoy this bowl of love.

Chicken & Andouille Gumbo

Cuisine Cajun, Creole

1/2 C Oil, or Duck Fat (plus 1/4 more for cooking chicken, veggies, and sausage)
1/2 C Flour
1 lb Cooked Chicken, Shredded up. (We fried ours but do whatever you like, cook, smoke, etc.)
1 Lb Andouille Sausage, diced up
1 Tbsp Garlic, minced
6 or so C Chicken Stock or Broth
1 C Green Onions, chopped
Your favorite Creole or Cajun Seasoning, to taste

Heat 1/4 oil or Duck Fat in large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add in half of holy trinity, chicken, andouille and seasoning, and cook, stirring occasionally, until there is almost a crust on bottom of pan. Add some stock and deglaze pan scrapping brown bits off bottom. Add more stock and let cook on a medium-high simmer while you make your roux.

Now bare with me… this takes some patience, time, and a little arm work. So get your whisk ready. Add 1/2 cup of oil or duck fat and let come to a good heat, when you see swirly lines in oil then its ready to add flour. Add flour and whisk whisk whisk until well combined. Now is the fun part. Keep whisking and whisking until desired color. I like to get it personally right before it hits the color of worchestire sauce. This can sometimes take even up to half an hour. keep whisking and if you notice thickening at bottom, take off heat for a minute and stir/whisk, until smooth then add back on. YOU DO NOT WANT BURNT BITS GETTING TO YOUR ROUX, which is why you want to keep whisk whisk whisking. When it is done, take off heat immediately, add in the rest of your holy trinity and stir/whisk until well combine.
Bring your Gumbo in stock pot to a boil, and add roux little bits at a time, stirring well to combine, until all is added. Add your green onion and anymore seasoning to taste, and let cook for an extra 10-15 minutes. Serve with rice or potato salad. Enjoy!