Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

2 to 3 pounds of chicken, cut up
salt
garlic powder
ground red pepper
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
¾ cup finely chopped celery
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground red pepper
vegetable oil for deep frying
7 cups chicken stock
½ pound andouille smoked sausage, cut into ¼ inch cubes
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
Hot basic rice


Remove excess fat from the chicken pieces. Rub a generous amount of salt, garlic powder, and red pepper on both sides of each piece; making sure each is evenly covered. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile in a medium size bowl combine the onions, bell peppers and celery; set aside.

Combine flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon garlic powder and ½ teaspoon red pepper in a paper or plastic bag. Add the chicken pieces and shake until chicken is well coated. Reserve ½ cup of the flour. In a large heavy skillet heat 1 ½ inches of oil until very hot. Fry the chicken until crust is brown on both sides and meat is cooked, about 5 to 8 minutes per side; drain on paper towels. Pour the hot oil into a glass measuring cup, leaving as much of the fonde in the pan as possible. Scrape the pan bottom with a metal whisk to loosen any fonde, then return ½ cup of the hot oil into the pan.

Place pan over high heat. Using a metal whisk, gradually stir in the reserved ½ cup flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until roux is dark red-brown to black, about 3 ½ to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add the reserved vegetable mixture, stirring constantly until the roux stops getting darker. Return pan to low heat and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly and scarping the pan bottom.

Meanwhile, place the stock in a large dutch oven. Bring to boil. Add roux mixture by spoonfuls to the boiling stock, stirring until dissolved between each addition. Return to a boil, stirring and scraping pan bottom often. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in the andouille and minced garlic. Simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes, stirring often toward the end of cooking time.

While the gumbo is simmering, bone the cooked chicken and cut the meat into ½ inch pieces. When the gumbo is cooked, stir in the chicken and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Paul Prudhommes