Recipe for "chicken-gumbo"

NAME

     CHICKEN-GUMBO - Gumbo with chicken and Andouille sausage
     This is a recipe that I got originally from Paul Prudhomme's
     cookbook,  The  Louisiana Kitchen. It is a classic Louisiana
     dish.  Serve with gumbo-style rice.

INGREDIENTS (serves 5)

     1         chicken, cut into 10 pieces.
               salt
               garlic powder
               cayenne pepper
     150 g     onions, finely chopped.
     150 g     green bell pepper, finely chopped.
     200 g     celery, finely chopped.
     25 g      flour
     2.5 ml    salt
     2.5 ml    garlic powder
     2.5 ml    cayenne pepper
               vegetable oil for deep frying
     1.75 l    chicken stock, homemade or canned
     250 g     Andouille smoked sausage, cut into 1/2 -cm  cubes.
               (See note about this ingredient)
     5 ml      garlic

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Cut extra fat from the  chicken  pieces.  Sprinkle
               each  generously  on  both sides with salt, garlic
               powder and cayenne, rubbing the  spices  in  after
               all  three  have  been applied.  Let stand at room
               temperature while you chop the vegetables and heat
               the oil.
          (2)  Chop the onions, bell pepper and  celery,  combine
               in a bowl, and set aside.
          (3)  In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 to 3 cm  of  oil
               until  very  hot  190  deg.  C to 200 deg. C Leave
               about 1 cm of space below the top of the  pan,  so
               it  won't overflow when you add the chicken pieces
               later. Use a deep fry thermometer if you have one.
          (4)  While the oil is heating, combine the  flour,  2.5
               ml salt, 2.5 ml
                garlic powder and 2.5 ml cayenne in a paper  bag.
               When the oil is almost hot enough, add the chicken
               pieces one or two at a time and shake  until  they
               are well coated.  Save 50 g of the leftover flour.
          (5)  Put the stock in a large kettle or Dutch oven, and
               begin heating it to a boil.
          (6)  Fry the chicken until the crust is brown  on  both
               sides  and the meat is cooked.  This takes about 6
               minutes a side for light meat, a  bit  longer  for
               dark.  Drain on paper towels.  You may have to fry
               the chicken in two batches.
          (7)  Pour the hot oil into a glass measuring cup, being
               very  careful to leave as many of the browned par-
               ticles as possible in the pan.  Pour 100 ml of the
               oil back into the pan and discard the rest.
          (8)  Place the pan over high heat.  Using a whisk, gra-
               dually stir in the leftover flour.  Cook, whisking
               constantly, until  this  roux  is  dark  red-brown
               (about  4 minutes).  Be very careful not to scorch
               the mixture, or to splash any onto  your  skin  as
               you stir.  Remove from the heat, add the vegetable
               mixture all at once and stir until the  vegetables
               are  all  coated.  Return the pan to low heat, and
               cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes.
          (9)  Check that the stock has reached a boil.  Add  the
               vegetable mixture to the stock in spoonfuls, stir-
               ring with the whisk after each  addition.   Return
               to a boil and stir in the andouille and the minced
               garlic.  Simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes.
          (10) While the gumbo is cooking, remove the  skin  from
               the  chicken  pieces,  and cut off as much meat as
               you can.  Cut the meat into small pieces (about  1
               cm  cubes).   When  the  gumbo  is cooked, add the
               chicken meat.
          (11) The original recipe did not call for this,  but  I
               take time to spoon off the fat from the top of the
               gumbo.  This is mostly oil, which does  not  soli-
               dify  when  you  chill  it.  You should be able to
               take off at least 100 ml.
          (12) To serve as a main course, mound 100 ml of  cooked
               gumbo-style  rice  in a soup bowl, and ladle about
               300 ml gumbo around the rice.  For  an  appetizer,
               use 20 mlof 150 ml of gumbo.

NOTES

     Note about Andouille (pronounced an-DOO-ee)  sausage:   this
     is  a uniquely spiced, smoked sausage made mostly in Louisi-
     ana.  If you can get some, then use it; it makes a  substan-
     tial difference to the recipe to use it.  If you can't, then
     try the Polish sausage kielbasa as a substitute. Do not sub-
     stitute   the   sausage   called  ``Louisiana  Sausage''  or
     ``Louisiana Hot Sausage.'' It's not the same thing.

RATING

     Difficulty: moderate to hard.  Time: 1 hour  preparation,  1
     hour cooking.  Precision: measure the seasonings.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Vicki O'Day
     Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto CA
     hplabs!oday