Sausage and Chicken Gumbo

Thanks to his line of work, my husband’s work schedule can be a little…what’s the right word…strange…and maybe even hard to follow. There are some weeks where he works a ton of days in a row and then there are others where he doesn’t have to work for six days in a row…which is what we’re experiencing right now. Notice the word “experiencing.” Like the other night when we had an “experience” trying to decide what to have for dinner.

It was around 5:00 p.m. when my husband looked at me and asked, “What do you want to do for dinner?” My mind was blank. I had no clue what I wanted to cook for dinner and I didn’t have a particular craving in mind which was very unlike me. When 6:00 p.m. rolled around I still had no clue and at 7:00 p.m. a movie came on so we found ourselves becoming sidetracked. The movie was scheduled to end until 9:00 p.m. so at 8:00 p.m. I began pulling out all of my cookbooks in search of inspiration.

During the commercial breaks I was offering up suggestions left and right and each and every one of them was being shot down. Talk about frustrating. Don’t get me wrong, my husband was offering up suggestions too. For example, his one dinner idea was to have meatloaf with mashed potatoes and rice. Ummm…really?! Mashed potatoes and rice? No thank you.

It wasn’t until 10:00 p.m. when we finally agreed on a dinner idea: Sausage and Chicken Gumbo. We bundled up, drove to the grocery store and picked up all of the essential items needed for me to create this delicious gumbo. Not only was I excited to finally eat dinner, I couldn’t wait to make it with my new dutch oven. Even though we sat down to dinner at midnight, it was well worth the wait. In the words of my husband, “This is one of the best dishes you’ve ever made…definitely top ten…it might even be number one. The flavors just explode in my mouth.” Trust him on this one…it’s that good.

Sausage and Chicken Gumbo

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 48 ounces chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
• 6 Italian sausages (choose your spicy preference) cut into 1/2 inch pieces, cooked
• 4 cups of cooked and shredded chicken
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Warm oil in a large Dutch oven and slowly mix in the flour. Whisk the flour and oil together until a roux begins to form. Constantly whisk the roux until it turns a chocolate color (be careful not to burn).
• Toss in green pepper, onion, celery and garlic and constantly stir for about five minutes.
• Pour in chicken broth, seasoning and sausage. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Add the chicken into the mixture and cook for an additional five minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.