Chicken Sausage File Gumbo Recipes

CAJUN CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE GUMBO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, whisk in flour. Continue whisking until the roux has cooked to the color of chocolate milk, 8 to 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn the roux. If you see black specks in the mixture, start over.
• Stir onion, bell pepper, celery, and sausage into the roux; cook 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook another 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning; blend thoroughly. Pour in the chicken broth and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Stir in the chicken, and simmer 1 hour more. Skim off any foam that floats to the top during the last hour.

CHICKEN & SAUSAGE FILE GUMBO

Steps:

• Put the chicken in a pot and add enough water just to cover. Boil just until done.
• Remove the chicken from the pot, reserving the liquid. When the chicken cools enough to handle, remove the skin, take the meat off the bones and cut into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
• Melt the butter and oil in a large pot over medium high heat, then add the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until it is a medium brown, lowering the heat to avoid burning, if necessary.
• Add the sausage, ham, onions, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
• Add about 2 cups of the reserved chicken broth, the chicken, and all seasonings except the file powder. Stir in the rest of the reserved chicken broth.
• Bring to a boil, then simmer for one hour, uncovered.
• Remove from the heat, stir in the file powder, then let stand for 5 minutes.
• Serve over steamed rice.

FILé GUMBO

Steps:

• Cook chicken if it's not already cooked. Leftovers work fine for this. Set aside.
• Place sausage in a large stockpot over medium high heat, and cook until lightly browned, and some oil is released. Set aside with chicken.
• Add 2 tbsp oil to pot, and saute onion, bell pepper, and celery until soft. Add garlic in the last few minutes. Set vegetables aside with chicken and sausage, wipe stockpot to remove any vegetable pieces.
• Add 1/4 cup oil to pot, and allow to heat over medium until it starts to "shimmer". Add flour, and cook, stirring constantly until the flour and oil mixture takes on a rich brown color. If I'm using sausage or ham, I like to do a chocolate colored roux, for seafood and poultry, I like a caramel color. Use your own judgment.
• When your roux is as you like it, add the chicken broth (You may sub seafood broth, or turkey stock, depending on your ingredients) stir constantly while adding broth to avoid lumps. You should have something resembling a thin gravy.
• Add meats and vegetables back to pot, add cajun seasoning. (I like Tony Chachere's, but you can use any kind you like. If this ingredient is not available in your area, several good ones have been posted to Zaar.).
• Simmer your gumbo for half an hour, or more if you like, keeping the heat low to avoid breaking the roux. This gives time for the flavors to mingle. If you're using a delicate shellfish, like shrimp, add it later in the simmer to avoid toughening it.
• When ready to serve, add hot sauce and filé, stir well, and ladle over a bowl of rice. Keep the filé, hot sauce, and Cajun seasoning out on the table, so diners may add more of any they like. This is wonderful accompanied by a loaf of crusty French bread and a crisp salad.

CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE GUMBO

Steps:

• Put chicken pieces in a bowl. Blend salt, peppers, mustard, cayenne pepper, paprika, granulated garlic and file powder. Rub four teaspoons of the mixture over the chicken. Set rest of spice mixture aside.
• Put the flour in a bowl and add two teaspoons of the reserved spice mixture. Blend well.
• Heat a 10-inch skillet and add the oil. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture to coat well, shaking off excess. Reserve the leftover flour.
• When the oil is hot and almost smoking, add the chicken pieces skin side down. Cook about two minutes on one side until golden brown. Turn and cook about three minutes on the second side until nicely browned. Do this in batches so as to not crowd the pan. Drain thoroughly on paper towels.
• Pour off all but one cup of fat from the skillet. Heat this oil over high heat until it is almost smoking and add the reserved seasoned flour. Stir rapidly and constantly with a wire whisk until the mixture is golden brown. Do not burn. This is a roux.
• Add the chopped onion, celery and green pepper to the roux and stir to blend well. Remove from the heat.
• Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan.
• Add about half a cup of the roux mixture to the broth, stirring rapidly with the whisk. Continue adding the roux mixture, half a cup at a time, always stirring rapidly and constantly.
• Add the smoked sausage and stir. Cook over high heat, stirring often from the bottom, about 15 minutes.
• Add the chicken pieces, bay leaf and finely minced fresh garlic. Cook about 40 minutes, on medium-low, stirring occasionally.
• Remove the chicken pieces. Cut the meat from the bones and discard the bones. Cut the chicken into cubes or shred it and add it back to the pot. Serve with white rice or potato salad (or both) spooned into the gumbo.