Easy Gumbo

You can make just chicken, just shrimp, or chicken, shrimp and sausage as pictured above.  Any combination works.

My mom and my grandmother, Mawmaw Mary, made their roux without measuring.  However, I like to be a little more precise.

To make a Roux:
Whisk 1/2 cup of flour into 1/3 to 1/2 cup oil in a Dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat.  Stir constantly.  Remove from heat if it starts to smoke as you don't want to burn your roux.  You just want to continue to cook and stir it until you get a rich dark caramel or chocolate color.  Mine was pretty light so next time I'll cook it longer.

***For just shrimp or chicken gumbo, season cleaned shrimp or chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic salt.  My grandma's recipe says 3 pounds of shrimp.  My mom's recipe says a whole chicken cut-up.  Put your meat in your roux and cook while stirring for about 5-6 minutes.  Then add your water and vegetables.  Simmer for an hour or more.***

I put in about 7-8 cups of water.  You can use broth for half of the water if desired.  And I used a cooked rotisserie chicken that I stripped the meat off of, cut up beef sausage links, and a 1 pound bag of cleaned un-cooked shrimp.  For the vegetables, you can have your pick or all of (1 large or 1 cup) chopped onions, (1/2 cup) green onions, (4 stalks or 1/2 cup) celery, (2-3) cloves minced garlic, and 1 green bell pepper.  I don't put okra in mine, but you can use a frozen bag or 1 pound of sliced okra.  Add 1/2-3/4 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp hot sauce, and 1 Tbsp-1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce.  Feel free to take out any ingredients you don't like or add any you like.  That's what I do.  Let simmer and serve over rice.  We put a seasoning called Gumbo File on ours, but it's great without it too.

Recipe is a combination from my Mawmaw, Mary Lanclos, my Mom, Margie Lanclos, and my Southern Living Cookbook