This recipe turns out a thick vegetable and meat “soup” with a very light color. The ingredients are easily identifiable, so it is more appealing than traditional gumbo to people who prefer individual flavors in their bowl. But it takes just as long to prepare as the traditional dark style of gumbo! Four people chopping, frying, and shredding, and stirring can produce the pot that serves 15-20 people in about an hour and a half. A single chef can divide up the steps and do a lot of the preparation ahead of time. You may also choose all fresh vegetables or all frozen vegetables; the combination below provides a nice blend of the two.
- 1 box Zatarain’s Gumbo base (don’t get the kind with rice in it)
- 1 fully cooked Rotisserie Chicken
- 1-1.5 lbs pecan smoked sausage or kielbasa, sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 stalks of celery, chopped to ¼-inch slices
- 16 oz package mini sweet peppers, chopped
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil, divided use
- 12-16 oz package frozen chopped seasoning blend (onions, peppers, celery)
- 8-16 oz frozen cut okra
Place the whole, cooked chicken in 1 gallon of water in a large pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes.
While the chicken is simmering, thaw the frozen vegetables in the microwave, discard liquid and pat dry.
Chop the fresh vegetables and sautée in a large frying pan with half of the oil. Remove from frying pan and set aside.
Reheat the pan with the remaining oil and braise the thawed, semi-dry frozen vegetables over high heat. These never reach the same golden brown as the fresh vegetables, you just want to keep the okra from turning slimy and use the heat to bring out the flavor of the seasonings. When done, set the entire pan to the side.
Slice the sausage links into bite-size pieces that will fit easily in a spoon. You do not need to fry the slices, but if you like the taste, you can certainly do so. You can even fry the sausage slices, remove the meat and then sautée the vegetables in the drippings rather than use olive oil.
Remove chicken pieces from the homemade broth with tongs and set aside to cool. To the hot chicken broth, add all the vegetables and sausage. Return to a boil, and keep boiling 10 minutes. While the vegetables and sausage bites are boiling, pull slightly cooled chicken from bones, discard bones, skin and gristle. Add chicken pieces back to the pot, reduce heat to simmer.
In a glass measuring cup or bowl, add 1/4 cup cold water to the dry Zatarain’s Gumbo Base and stir until the lumps are gone. Add 1/4 cup cold water and repeat. Continue adding 1/4 cup cold water to the base until you have a liquid that is about as thick as pancake syrup. Pour this roux into to the pot and simmer 20 minutes more, stirring frequently to prevent the roux from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Serve over rice.
1 pot makes 15-20 generous servings, first served at the Westbury United Methodist Church Family Retreat, September 2016.