Chicken Andouille Gumbo

When I decided to do a recipe a week, I really thought it would be easy. But I started a new full-time job in February, and my weekly chicken recipe plans got derailed. Heck, my weekly *cook a meal* plans got derailed. But our pizza consumption has thrived.

That said, I'm going to do my best to (a) do more home-cooked meals, (b) do more roasted chicken meals and (c) post recipes when I do.

This gumbo recipe is a family classic. Every one loves it. Seriously. It is good stuff. I normally make this for Christmas Eve, using the leftover (frozen) Thanksgiving turkey. But this week, I adapted the recipe to (a) prepare a serving for less than 50 people and (b) use a chicken. On the plus side: I cooked, it was awesome. On the minus side, I took no photos. But on the semi-plus side, I've made this recipe en masse many times and photos were taken, so I'll have a few to throw in.

So here we go. Gumbo. This gumbo starts where all good gumbos start. With a roux.

To make your roux, melt one stick of butter and incrementally stir in one cup of flour, stirring over a medium-low heat four eleventy billion hours. When your arm throbs, you're halfway done. Seriously. That is how a roux is made. Equal measure butter and flour, stirred until it's caramel colored.

Gumbo ingredients:

Roux (1 stick butter, 1 cup flour)

2 onions, diced

1 lb frozen okra

1 glove of garlic, diced

1 bunch of celery, chopped

1 roasted chicken, deboned

1 pound of andouille sausage, sliced

1 lb can of tomato sauce

1 can of Rotel tomatoes

3 lb can of chicken broth

1 teaspoon each: paprika, thyme, oregano and cayenne (go light on the cayenne, you can add hot sauce later)

at the table: gumbo file, to taste

Once your roux is carmel colored and the consistency of putty, add your onions, garlic and celery. Cook until soft. If you're doing this in a pan, transfer to your stock pot. If you want to save on washing a pan, make the roux in a stock pot.

When your veggies are soft, add the frozen okra and cook until not frozen any longer. Add your chicken and sausage, tomatoes (both) and broth. Add seasoning.

Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least two hours. I make mine in the morning and simmer all day.

Did I mention that I usually make enough for a party of 50 people? Yeah, this recipe is not for 50 people. It's for one pot. A large pot. You'll have enough for dinner, and then some for the freezer. Probably not this much for the freezer though.

A tip for freezing gumbos and soups. Pour the cooled soup into a gallon sized ziplock bag. Suck the air out with a straw and seal. Then put it into a second ziplock bag to prevent freezer burn. Lay the bags flat on a cookie sheet and slide into the freezer. When the soup is frozen, you can remove the cookie sheet.

But back to the gumbo. Serve over rice. Add gumbo file and hot sauce to taste at the table.

Cook up a pot and let me know how it goes!

Chicken Fajita Soup.... the hurry up, it's time for dinner edition!

Well, I'm back. The month of February has been a complete wash for this family and that's all we're going to say about that.

This is a chicken fajita soup recipe that is short on fresh ingredients, but tastes great anyway. Its one of those recipes that is predominantly thrown together with things you might have in your pantry already, and once you get everything in the pot, it's ready to eat in 20 minutes.

I didn't get pictures of the cooking process because I was in a cooking stupor, trying to throw dinner together after working all day and hearing about the death of Corey Haim. One of the Coreys! Tragic. I recently made a joke referring to someone as looking like "one of the Coreys from the eighties," and none of the (10 year younger than me) people in the room got it.

But on to the soup...

Ingredients (not everything, obviously, was photographed)...

1 roasted chicken, deboned

1 white onion, diced

1 bunch of green onions, diced

1 packet of fajita seasoning

Lots of cans of stuff...

1 giant can of chicken broth and regular-sized cans of Rotel tomatoes (1), sliced black olives (1), cheddar cheese soup (2), cream of chicken soup (2)

Optional garnish items: shredded colby jack, sour cream, avocado, crushed tortilla chips.

HOW TO:

Brown the onion and green onion in your stock pot. I sprayed the pot with a tiny bit of olive oil, which would be optional. When browned, add the shredded chicken and the packet of fajita seasoning. Mix and brown for a couple of minutes.

Add in all of the canned ingredients and stir (or whisk) until the creamy soups are blended in. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

That's it. The soup is done. Seriously.

In the bowl, garnish with a sprinkling of shredded colby jack, a dollop of sour cream, a few chunks of avocado and crushed corn chips.

Fast. Easy. Tasty. Did I mention fast?

Don't You Forget About... Chicken Corn Chowder

This? Was delicious. If I do say so myself. Which I just did. And easy, too. So win-win. My only regret is that I didn't make a double batch, because I think it would freeze really well.

THE INGREDIENTS:

One deboned roasted chicken, half-pound of bacon, one cup each onion and celery, three cups of chicken broth, two cans of creamed corn, one bag of frozen corn, two cups of diced potato and one cup of evaporated milk. Ingredients that I added after taking the obligatory ingredient photo: two HEAPING TEASPOONS of Zatarain's, two HEAPING TEASPOONS of cooking sherry, black pepper and parsley flakes to taste.

The definition of a HEAPING TEASPOON is: I couldn't find my tablespoon, so I used a teaspoon, but overflowed it. This is a very scientific operation I have going here. I know. You're welcome.

I deboned my roasted chicken while it was warm, and then kept it in the fridge until I was ready to make the chowder the next day. I used the entire chicken EXCEPT FOR the wings (which I had for lunch the day I was deboning it) and one breast (as seen set aside in the photo below) which I saved for chicken sandwiches tomorrow.

After deboning the chicken, I did cut the larger pieces into chunks.

In your stock pot (or dutch oven or soup pot), start to simmer three cups of chicken broth with your chunked chicken, two cans of creamed corn, one bag of frozen corn and two cups of potatoes. Meanwhile, cook your bacon until crispy. Remove and pat dry to degrease it.

Take your one cup each of onion and celery and cook it in the bacon grease.

... Because everything is better when cooked in bacon grease. It's a fact.

Cook for exactly the length of time it takes to find "Alive and Kicking" by Simple Minds on your iPod, play it, and get your groove on. On the last "ba ba da da da, ba ba da da da, ba ba da oh, ba ba da oh" part, the onion and celery will be done. Kitchen timer, who?

When the onion and celery is tender (see timing method above), remove from the bacon grease with a slotted spoon. Don't dump your veggies with grease into the chowder pot. A little bacon grease goes a long way. Take your cooked bacon and crumble it into the pot as well.

Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender about 15-20 minutes, or the length of time it takes to go to Google and find out whatever happened to Jim Kerr, from Simple Minds (goodbye Crissie Hynde, hello Patsy Kensit!), and to friend him on Facebook (oh yes, I did). When your potatoes are tender, crank your heat back up from a simmer to about medium, and stir in one cup of evaporated milk, two overflowing teaspoons of cooking sherry and two heaping teaspoons of Zatarain's. Stir it all in, and then reduce back to a simmer.

Add black pepper and parsley flakes to taste. I used 20 twists of the pepper mill, which covered the top of the pot, and then about an equal amount of parsley. Stir it in.

And voila, you're done. I served my chowder with butter croissants. Tim and I had this for lunch and we're having it again for dinner. I also sent two servings home with a friend to get opinions from her and her hubby. I'll let you know what they say. Assuming they love it. Otherwise, I'll pretend like they never got back to me.

THE VERDICT:

Tim - Delicious. I'm giving it a 9.5.

Carlie - This is the most boring house ever and I hate everyone. Okay, the I hate everyone part she only said with her eyes. But the *most boring house ever* part was verbal. And she did not eat lunch. Because it was, like, too boring, I guess.

Shana - This was really delicious. This recipe will be a *keeper* and next time I will try a double batch for freezing.

Hey, make some chowder and send me a picture!

UPDATE: I offered Carlie a bowl of chowder (again) for a late lunch.

Carlie: I HATE MY LIFE I HATE MY LIFE I HATE MY LIFE.

Shana: Hello, preteen years, we've missed you.

UPDATE 2: Simple Minds? Most under-appreciated band of my youth.