Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

I love anything with rice but one of my favorite things to eat is gumbo. It's just a perfect way to warm you up on a cold day. This is the first I've made this year but know there will be plenty more to come.

I know it's cheating a bit but I always use jarred roux. You can definitely make your own if you want to take the time. I just think the jarred is a little easier. You always want to make sure you include the trinity of New Orleans cooking: ONION, BELL PEPPER, and CELERY. You can hardly find a good cajun recipe without those three. Also make sure you have a big enough stock pot. For this time around I tripled the recipe since we had pe

ople coming over to watch the Alabama LSU game, which we won by the way! GEAUX TIGERS!! Anyway, I ended up having to transfer a third of the gumbo to another pot because when I tried to add all the meat it was almost overflowing. Definitely compensate for the meat and veggies when you are figuring out the water level. We also like our gumbo very meaty so I tend to go a little overboard on the meat. It's totally up to you how much you use.

Just a suggestion...DJ's family loves to eat their gumbo with a serving of potato salad. Just make your plate and spoon the potato salad right on top of it. I've never tried it but they claim it's the only way to eat gumbo. Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone who wants to try something different.

The Cajun Trio:

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

8 quarts of water

1 16 oz jar of roux (or you can make your own)

2 large yellow onion, chopped

2 green bell peppers, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 pounds of chicken breasts

1-2 pounds of andouille sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (if you can't find andouille use a high quality smoked)

season to taste with pepper, Tony Chachere's, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder

Directions:

1. Combine water and roux in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil and boil for about 30 minutes or until roux is completely dissolved. Make sure to stir constantly so the roux doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.

2. While the roux is dissolving, saute the veggies in a small amount of olive oil until tender.

3. Add veggies, sausage, and chicken to boiling water/roux. Reduce heat and simmer on low for about 2 hours. The longer you cook it the better the flavors mend.

4. While cooking, season to taste.

5. Serve with rice and enjoy!