Emeril's Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

I looooooooove cajun/creole food. Let's be perfectly clear about that. Unfortunately, to do this kind of cooking right, you need a lot of time, as these recipes are often long and slow-cooking endeavors. Fortunately for me, I had some time today around the house (while working on a remodel of daughter Julia's room) to do just that; a long slow-cooked cajun meal the correct way. The recipe used was Emeril Lagasse's Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo. Yum. Since it is readily available on the Internet, I will walk you through it here...

First and foremost, this isn't  quick recipe; it states 30 minutes prep time and 3:30 total time, and it is all of that. First you brown smoked sausages in a dutch oven. Then you brown highly seasoned chicken (boneless thighs of course).

Sausage, Chicken, Onions and Peppers

When the sausage and chicken have both been browned (and removed from the pot), you take the next 20-25 minutes making a chocolate brown roux from the drippings, oil and flour. This is the key flavor step for the whole dish and cannot be skimped on.

Starting a chocolate brown roux

When the chocolate roux is done, you add onions, celery and peppers, and soften them. Then you add seasonings and the sausage back in.

Onions and peppers go into the roux

You add chicken stock, bring this to a boil, and then simmer it for an hour.

Ready for a long simmer

At the end of the first hour of simmering, you add the browned chicken to the pot and then simmer it for another hour and a half.

Chicken and smoked sausage gumbo

At the very end, you add in green onions, chopped parsley and a bunch of file powder (not easy to find, but one of the things that gives the dish its authentic gumbo flavor).

This should be served with, or over, white rice (what else?), but I always want to have a nice crusty bread on hand for sopping up the sauce.

This takes an afternoon of commitment to make, but it is not difficult by any means. I can't recommend it highly enough. I have been to New Orleans several times over the years, and this recipe tastes like New Orleans. Very highly recommended.

(Faux) Red Beans and Rice

Faux Red Beans and Rice

This is one of our most frequently made recipes, dating back to something that I threw together 12 or 15 years ago and have been making ever since. We called it "red beans and rice" although that is somewhat of a misnomer. It has red beans in it, we eat it with rice, and it is Cajun influenced, but anyone familiar with Cajun food will know that there is a specific dish called Red Beans and Rice, and this isn't it. That being said, it is generally evocative of something along those lines, and we have been calling it this for so long that we can't change now. Us, in-laws, family and neighbors all refer to this by that name, so that is what it has become.

The genesis of this recipe was to throw something together quickly that used easy ingredients, didn't take a lot of time, and was cajun-ish in nature. It proved to be easy, remarkably good, adaptable to variations, and cheap. So we've been making it ever since.

The basic recipe goes something like this (sized for either a lot of people or a smaller family meal with leftovers). We make it in big batches because it is one of those dishes that gets even better as it sits.

Ingredients:

• 2.5-3 pounds pre-cooked smoked sausages, cut into bite sized pieces. In our area, Hillshire Farms smoked sausages, kielbasa, etc, are readily available and are good for what they are. We also often use Aidell's andouille sausage. Anything by Aidell's is great. [Three packages in the 12-16 oz range]
• 1 large onion, medium-large dice.
• 2 bell peppers, medium dice. 1 red and 1 green is nice for color.
• 1 or 2 jalapenos, fine dice.
• 1or 2 14oz cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed. Depends how much you like beans.
• 14oz can diced tomatoes, with juice.
• 14oz can tomato sauce, or a similar amount of crushed tomatoes.
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced.
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4-1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

Add the sausage to a very hot dutch oven or other large pot and cook 5-7 minutes over high heat, stirring frequently. The sausages are already cooked, so you are just trying to sear the edges for a little crispiness and color. Don't overdo and burn them.

Add the onions and garlic and cook 5 more minutes to soften and get a little color.

Smoked sausage and onions

Add peppers and spices, stirring to mix well, and cook for 2-3 minutes to open up the spices before adding the liquid.

Add bell peppers and hot peppers

Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce/crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then immediately reduce heat to medium (or whatever it takes to get a nice simmer going). Add the beans. Partially cover and simmer for 20 minutes (or more).

Add crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes

Serve with rice and/or crusty bread. Amp thinks everything goes with rice. I believe the same about a good crusty bread.

This can be made further ahead and simmered longer, but if you do a longer cooking time be careful to keep it mostly covered or you will evaporate too much liquid and dry it out. If it does start to dry out, I would add a little water or chicken broth to thin it out. If you add more crushed tomato or tomato sauce it becomes more strongly tomato flavored (although you might like that).

The heat can be adjusted by deleting or reducing the cayenne for a milder version, or adding more hot peppers (of whatever variety) or cayenne, or even a hot chili powder, for a spicier version.