Chicken-Sausage Gumbo

I threw some Polish Sausage on the smoker last week while I was making my pulled pork. Smoked sausage is delicious and one the best things to eat smoked sausage in is gumbo.

Gumbo is called a soup but to me it is more of a stew, served over rice. One of the key features of a gumbo is that it is thickened with a roux.

For some reason, people think roux is hard to make. It is very easy. I found a video that explains making a roux pretty well.

I modified a recipe from the book Tom Fitzmorris's New Orleans Food: More than 225 of the City's Best Recipes to Cook at Home. My naughty wife doesn't like andouille sausage so I made it with smoked Polish sausage instead.

Chicken-Sausage Gumbo

1 pound chicken
vegetable oil
1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
parsley
1 quart chicken broth
1 T salt
1 t pepper
1 t Tabasco
2 bay leaves
1/4 t thyme
1/2 pound smoked sausage
2 green onions, chopped
a little File powder if you have it

Cut chicken up into pieces and brown in oil. Remove the chicken from the pan and melt butter in the pan. Stir in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture turns brown. Next add onions, garlic and pepper. Saute until onions start to turn clear. Dump everything into the pot except the sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for an hour. Add in the sausage and simmer for another 1/2 to 1 hour. It should be nice and thick like a stew. Add water as needed if it gets too thick. Add a dash of File powder at the very end. NOT TOO MUCH. Garnish with green onion and serve over white rice.