Gumbo Rocks!

For those celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday, have a lovely one.

For those not celebrating the holiday, have a nice Thursday, wherever you are.

If you are celebrating Thanksgiving, you're going to get sick of turkey pretty soon and need an alternative.

And if you're not celebrating Thanksgiving, you'll need something to eat anyway.

That's why this is the ideal time for posting the recipe to Chef Francoise's Black Roux Gumbo.

You'll need:

2 chickens cut up, or six pounds chicken pieces. Skin on.

2.5 pounds andouille sausage, kielbasa, or some other smoked sausage, cubed

15 cups chicken stock, degreased

1 teaspoon dry thyme.

2 cups onions, chopped fine.

1.5 cups green peppers, chopped fine.

1.5 cups celery, chopped fine.

1 cup green onions, chopped fine (keep separate)

Seasoning mix (dry rub):

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1.5 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon salt.

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1.2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon white pepper.

(you'll probably need more of the seasoning mix than given here.)

Flour mix

2.5 cups flour, all purpose.

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon paprika

Rub chicken parts with seasoning mix. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.

In a big skillet, preferably cast iron, heat 2.5 cups vegetable oil over moderately high heat.

In a plastic bag or pan, shake the seasoned chicken parts in the flour mix and shake.

Remove excess by tapping.

Measure one cup of the flour and keep the remaining.

Fry the chicken by batches until golden brown on both sides. (Chicken doesn't have to be cooked all the way through, you'll do that later.)

Remove one cup of the oil, keep the remainder.

Clean skillet.

Put one cup of the oil and bring it over high heat until you see a faint haze of smoke. Lower heat to medium high.

PLEASE WEAR LONG GLOVES AT THIS POINT. YOU ARE ABOUT TO MAKE A ROUX, WHICH SHARES MANY CHARACTERISTICS WITH NAPALM. BE CAREFUL.

Add a little flour from the cup into the skillet, whisking all the while. Continue until all flour is in.

Whisk continuously until it becomes a dark chocolate brown.

Remove from heat, still stirring, let cool about ten seconds.

Add 1/2 the vegetables.

Stir well and slowly add 1.5 cups hot stock. Cook over medium low fire for one minute.

Transfer slowly into pot of hot stock.

Add the cubed andouille or kielbasa and the garlic. Add remaining vegetables.

Bring to boil, lower the heat, and simmer 40 minutes.

While all this is going on, debone and cube the chicken, including crispy skin but not fatty skin.

When simmering is over, add chicken and green onions. Stir and simmer 10 minutes more.

Serve 3 heaping tablespoon of rice per 8 oz gumbo.

Makes 16 servings.

CAJUN RICE

4 tablespoons very fine chopped onions.

4 tablespoons very fine chopped green onions

6 stalks of celery finely chopped

4 medium cloves of garlic minced

1 teaspoon white pepper

2 teaspoons of salt

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne

1 tablespoon of dry thyme

4 cups rice

5.5 cups hot chicken stock, degreased

2 tablespoons of butter

1 teaspoon lemon juice.

Heat stock. Add everything but the green onion. When the rice is cooked, scatter chopped green onion over the top.

Comments:

Much of the spicy taste is actually in the rice. If you like your gumbo spicy, add more red, white, and black pepper to the rice, or increase the ratio of rice to gumbo. And vice versa, or course.

Laissez les bon temps roulez.