Smoked Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

GUMBO Eating TIME!

Yes, people I know it's HOT outside, 110 degrees to be exact, but in my house it's 65 degrees thanks to my nice cool air conditioner. If you were wondering why would anyone make gumbo in this weather, well here's your answer.

Because it's the last hot soup of the season for me and my family. I want make gumbo again until Thanksgiving so we have to cherish the memories while they last.

Don't get me wrong, everyday is Gumbo eating day, just not in my house, because in the summertime I am a grilling mama.

I love to cook outdoors and if you haven't noticed by most of my recent post, I've already fired up the grill.

I decided to omit seafood from this gumbo, unlike my last Smokey Creole Gumbo, as I stated before, Baby Girl is allergic to seafood, so I wanted to make sure she had a nice big bowl of gumbo without the seafood.

Another change up too this gumbo is the size. People, I am Creole and we don't make anything small, especially gumbo. I took great detail into tailoring this recipe for about 4-6 people.

This is my first time ever making gumbo for 4-6 people, it's just something that would never happen in my family. But for those of you who just need a small batch, this recipes for you.

If you like seafood, in the last 15 minutes of cooking, add a pound of peeled, deveined shrimp.

What time is it? Gumbo Eating Time!

Smoked Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours + smoked chicken time
Total Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 whole smoked or roasted chicken, skin removed, shredded (recipe below)
1 smoked turkey drumstick
1 lb. hot sausage, hot links, or andouille sausage, sliced on the diagonal 1/2" pieces
1 small pack of chicken gizzards (optional)
1 1/2 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bell pepper, diced
1 white onion, diced
1/2 bunch celery, diced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 bunch of parsley, minced
1 bunch of green onions, diced
3 bay leaves
64 oz. low sodium chicken broth
64 oz. water
1 1/2 c. roux (click link for recipe)
hot sauce
pot of hot rice
gumbo pot
proper cooling and storing directions
 
For the Smoked Chicken:
1 whole chicken about 3 lbs.
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon creole seasoning
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 lemon, zested, juiced

Directions:

To prepare the smoked chicken, rinse and clean chicken, pat dry. Rub olive oil over chicken and sprinkle all the seasonings. Sprinkle lemon juice and zest over whole chicken. Stick garlic and juiced lemon in cavity. Marinate overnight if you have time. Remove from refrigerator and smoke at 225 degrees for 4 hours.  


In a large stock pot, add broth and water. Add all chopped vegetables, bay leaves, chicken gizzards that have been rinsed and cleaned under cold water, and add sausage that have been sliced on a diagonal about 1/2 inch slices. Add  smoked turkey and all the seasonings. If you think your sausage might be extremely greasy, slice them and boil them in a separate pot for about 20 minutes to release the oil from them. Then add them to the stock pot. Allow this mixture to cook for about 1 hour on medium heat.

Start preparing your roux while the vegetable mixture cooks.Directions below on how to prepare your roux. After 1 hour, remove smoked turkey from pot, peel off turkey skin and discard, shred turkey meat and add back to the pot. Lower heat to medium-low and add 1 1/2 cups of the roux mixture and cook for 30 minutes more. Be very careful when adding the roux, it will splatter and burn you.

I put a big spoon in the pot and allow the roux to fall on the spoon first so it slowly hits the hot stock. After adding the roux, put a lid on the pot with a slight vent and this will allow any grease that accumulates to rise to the top of the pot so you can skim it off.

You will not get all the grease off, its OK. Finally, dump the shredded smoked chicken in the pot.  Let gumbo cook 30 minutes more while you prepare your hot rice and get ready to eat.

Serve with lots of hot sauce.