A favorite cooking “project” that I picked-up from a buddy down south. Putting this together would usually be an all day endeavor and would feed a host of football fans at the house throughout game day.
KPaul would be proud!
This recipe can feed anywhere from 4 to 12 people, depending on the kind of people. Adjust the yields to meet your expected needs by increasing/decreasing amounts using a ratio applied to all ingredients listed here.
Louisiana Gumbo File'
Ingredients
- 1/2 whole fryer chicken (for the stock)
- 3 deboned chicken breasts
- 1 lb. of Andouille sausage or kielbasa
- 1 lb. of shelled crawfish or shrimp
- 2 onions
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 can sliced okra (fresh is better)
- 1 can stewed tomatoes
- 1 carrot
- cayenne pepper
- salt
- black pepper
- Gumbo file’
- Lousiana hot sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- olive oil or other cooking oil
- white rice (sometimes I use Boil-n-bag)
How to make it
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In a large stock pot, add 1/2 fryer(rub fryer with salt & pepper), 2 quarts water, 1 celery stick, 1/2 onion, 1 carrot. Let simmer for 4-6 hours on low-medium heat. See my post on making basic chicken stock here on Fusion Culinaire.
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Drain stock from the pot, and put aside.
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Cut deboned breasts into bite-sized pieces, dust in flour (I use a paper bag), and brown chicken in large skillet using a tablspoon of olive oil or vegetable oil.
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Remove browned chicken and set aside.
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Using the hot oil and drippings, add the remaining flour to the skillet and whisk over low-high heat until the desired texture and color is achieved. (See also, Making the Roux on Fusion Culinaire).
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If the roux gets black specks in it, it’s burned and you must start over with fresh oil. (half oil, half flour)
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Remove skillet from heat and add diced onion, celery, crushed garlic and okra. The heat from the roux should cook the vegetables very quickly.
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In large stock pot with strained chicken stock, slowing spoon in the roux, always stirring on medium heat.
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When all roux is mixed with stock, add cayenne, black pepper, salt, tomatoes, hot sauce, bay leaves and browned chicken pieces…let simmer for a couple of hours.
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Steamed rice is preferred or prepare a bag or two of boil-n-bag rice on the side (should take about 15-20 minutes).
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Slice the sausage up and slightly brown in your skillet, then add that to the gumbo.
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About 20 minutes before serving, add the crawfish or shrimp.
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Ladle the gumbo over a scoop of rice and season to taste with the file’, hot sauce, etc..
Makes about 4 quarts of Gumbo.
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