Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

After our hearty and filling first course of Coconut-Curry Mussels, Bret and I leisurely cooked a wonderful Chicken and Sausage Gumbo for our New Year's Eve dinner.  I flagged this recipe from my most recent issue of Bon Appetit.  Since this dish takes about three hours to prep and cook, I knew that this would be perfect for our New Year's Eve night in.

First, I gathered our ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup (or more) vegetable oil
• 1 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/2" rounds
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced (white and pale parts separated from dark)
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic (this was about six cloves for me)
• 8 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2 cups 1/2”-thick slices frozen okra, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• Steamed rice

After prepping the ingredients, there were still a lot of steps to this recipe.  As you may have noticed from my previous blog post, I didn't take photos of the cooking process because I wanted to just enjoy the time in the kitchen with Bret.  Sometime you just need to shut the camera off, turn up the music, pour a glass of wine and enjoy the actual act of cooking:

• I combined the salt, freshly ground black pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.  I then sprinkled the spice mixture all over the chicken thighs.
• I warmed up the 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Working in two batches, I seared the chicken until golden brown, about five minutes per side.
• I then transferred the browned chicken to a plate and then added the sausage to the pot.  Again, I cooked the sausage until browned, about four minutes per side. I transferred the browned sausage to another plate.
• I then strained the drippings from the Dutch oven through a fine-mesh sieve into a multi-cup heatproof measuring cup.  I reserved one cup of the strained drippings.  Since my drippings were less than a cup, I added more vegetable oil to measure one cup.
• Bret wiped the Dutch oven clean and I returned the drippings to pot.
• I warmed the drippings over medium heat.
• I whisked flour into drippings. Bret and I took turns whisking constantly until the roux was the color of milk chocolate.  This took about fifteen minutes for us.
• I reduced the heat to low heat.  I then added the onions and cooked until soft.
• Next, I stirred in the white and pale-green parts of scallions, celery stalks, green bell peppers, and garlic cloves and cooked those vegetables until soft.
• I then slowly whisked in the broth.
• I next added the bay leaves, thyme, and reserved chicken and sausage.
• I brought the gumbo to a boil.  Once it was boiling, I reduced the heat to low and let the gumbo simmer gently.  I skimmed a lot of fat from the surface while it was simmering and stirred occasionally. 
• I let the gumbo simmer for about forty-five minutes and then I stirred in one cup of okra, the Worcestershire sauce, and the hot sauce.
• I let the gumbo simmer for another forty-five minutes until the chicken was very tender and falling apart in the gumbo.
• I stirred in the remaining one cup of okra and simmered until the most recently-added okra was crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
• I removed the gumbo from the heat.
• I served the gumbo over rice and garnished the gumbo with the chopped dark-green parts of the scallions. 

This gumbo took a lot of time but was worth all of the effort.  The gumbo had a thick gravy-like consistency.  The chicken was tender and the sausage added the perfect amount of kick to the dish. 

The gumbo is also wonderful re-heated.  I served it to my girlfriends the next day while we watched the Pats game.  We froze about half of the gumbo but I'm looking forward to eating the other half of the leftovers for the next day or so.

This chicken and sausage gumbo was probably one of the more labor-intensive dishes I've made (next to Gordon Hamersley's Roast Chicken). 

Tell me, what is the most labor-intensive dish you've made?  Was it worth it?