Yum-bo Gumbo!

In honor of upcoming Fat Tuesday (February 24)festivities, I have a fabulous Gumbo recipe. I hope by providing it a week early, it will give you the opportunity to get all the ingredients! We had an awesome Sunday dinner eating gumbo and listening to jazz musicians. MiniMe and MiniB danced around to Harry Connick Jr. and Frank Sinatra. It was fun.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - chopped
10 oz. turkey kielbasa sausage - sliced
1 cup olive oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 quarts chicken broth (I use 1 1/2 of the large cans)
1 bottled beer
4 celery stalks, diced
2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 yellow onion, diced
1 (10 ounce) can original Rotel
1 tablespoon red chile powder
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 bag frozen Okra (rinsed)
1/8 cup Cajun seasoning
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
Gumbo file powder
OPTIONAL--I like to make some brown rice and dump the rice in at the end of the process. You can also serve the gumbo on the rice or not have rice at all if you prefer.

1. Prepare your proteins--slice the kielbasa, cut the chicken breasts and peel and devein the shrimp.

2. Cook chicken pieces thoroughly. Stir in sausage, and cook until evenly browned. Drain chicken and sausage, and set aside.



3. In a large soup pot blend olive oil and flour over medium heat to create a roux. Stir constantly until browned and bubbly (My roux takes about 20 minutes and it takes on a nutty scent and the mixture is a nice taupe brown). Mix in garlic, and cook about 1 minute.

4. Gradually stir chicken broth and beer into the roux mixture. Bring to a boil, and mix in celery, diced tomatoes, onion, Rotel, red chile powder, parsley, okra, and Cajun seasoning. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 40 minutes, stirring often.
Mix chicken, sausage, and shrimp into the broth mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes. Stir in brown rice if you like your gumbo with rice (optional). Serve. Top with sprinkle of gumbo file powder.



I like to eat mine with some fresh sourdough bread.