Since I need to go to the grocery store and couldn’t get there this morning, I needed to create something for dinner that utilized only what I had at home. I knew that I had chicken, Italian sausage and rice because I bought extra of each of those items when I last went grocery shipping. A couple of weeks ago we had Jambalaya at my 11year old’s request and it was a hit! So, I thought I’d give Gumbo a try. It’s pretty good and all went well except for when I dropped my phone into a pot of rue while trying to photograph it for this particular blog!
I’ve never made this before so I combined a couple of different recipe suggestions. The common trend amongst Gumbo talk was that no one makes it the same and there really isn’t a right or wrong way, a long as it begins with a rue. So feel free to experiment and play with my recipe. I will!
Rue:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup butter
3 Cups Chicken Stock (low sodium)
1Tbs Cajun Seasoning
Dash Cayenne Pepper
1tsp Black Pepper
Melt butter in small saucepan. Gradually add flour while whisking constantly. Bring to a boil. Add to crockpot. Whisk in chicken stock and spices. Turn crockpot on low.
1-1.5lbs Chicken cooked and shredded
1lb Italian Sausage (I used sweet but you can use whatever you want, even smoked sausage, chorizo or kielbasa)
2 cloves garlic
1 bag pepper stir fry mix (or one onion, one red and one green pepper, all diced)
Cut sausage into bite size pieces. Add about a TBS of olive oil to frying pan. Begin browning sausage, add in chopped garlic, mixed onions and peppers (fresh or frozen stir fry style.
I always use Bird’s Eye Peppers and Onions. Best time saver EVER).
Cook until done.
Add to crockpot mixture.
Cook on low 3-5 hours. Serve over hot cooked rice. Serves 8 to 10
