 Who Dat? Gumbo Fo Da New Orleans Saints Chicken and Sausage Gumbo - What You'll Need:
1 Cup of Flour
1 Cup of Oil
1 Onion
1 Fryer Chicken – Cut Into Pieces
Andouille Sausage (You may substitute a pack of Mild or Hot Smoked Sausage) – Cut into diagonal slices. There's nothing like a simple, traditional recipe provided by some of my Louisiana family members (Thanks Aunt Margie...and Nina!) to delight your guests and veer slightly away from the burgers, dogs and other BBQ favorites that will accompany the 17 Sundays that make up your NFL season. You can add to this recipe, substitute meats and veggies or make your own stock from scratch, but don't you dare mess with the foundation! Ya hear? Who Dat!? You'll begin by making a roux. Your roux will merely consist of a cup of oil and a cup of flour. If you want the consistency of your roux to be a little thicker, you can add more flour, but don't push past 1 ¼ cup of flour to 1 cup of oil. Heat the combination on medium heat and stir like a cement mixer. If you've got any cast iron cookware, I recommend it. You don't want any chunkies (or floaties – as my wife calls them), to enter your mix. If you see floaties of the black variety, that look like burned chunks of oil and flour...I said, “Stir like a cement mixer.” Not a paint mixer. Maybe, “stir continuously” resonates more clearly. If you have chunkies or floaties, you must start over. Don't bother straining them out, you've already scorched the roux. Once you've got a good mix going, your roux will begin taking on a darker color. First it will be a nice caramel, followed by a peanut-buttery glow, and then it will push into something that looks a little more like chocolate. The latter is how I prefer mine, but they're all delicious...just a different variety. If you want it authentically Cajun, do it dark! But in honor of the Saints, you may want to go golden. Once you get close to the desired darkness, drop the heat to the lowest low, add your chopped onion and any other veggies – okra, celery, bell peppers, garlic, etc. You get the idea – the more complex and flavorful you want it, the more you add! Continue to stir until the flavor has cooked into the mix. You'll know by smell and because the vegetables will become soft. At this point add 6 cups of water to your roux or your roux to 6 cups of water – depending on whether you made the roux in a skillet or a pot – regardless...at this point it all needs to be in a pot. Bring it to a boil; stir continuously. (Here's where you may deviate: If you choose to do so, I highly recommend that you check out what I believe to be the best Gumbo site in the galaxy: Chuck Taggert's Gumbo Pages (gumbopages.com). You'll find a more complex home-made stock and gumbo variation, which is amazingly delicious, but for sake of time and your virginal Gumbo-making experience, we're going with the water. It'll still exercise your taste buds.) Once you hit the boiling point, add the chopped chicken and sausage. Reduce heat to med-low and cook until the meat is done. It's as simple as that. You may salt and pepper to taste, add some Tabasco, or my personal favorite, Bayou Butt Burner – a classic sauce from HongryHawg Of Louisiana (cajunsauce.com). If it isn't dark enough, try adding a teaspoon of Kitchen Bouquet, and stirring once again. Kind of the cheat way of getting it dark enough, but for a first-timer, I don't think anyone will crucify you! And I doubt anyone will know! Offer it with rice, and your friends will be asking you to “whup it up” again once the Saints reach the Super Bowl!
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