Life By The Pool. . .it's just BETTER!: Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Kevin is the one that makes the gumbo in our family. His best friend Kurt taught him how to make it. A lot of people make their own roux. We go the easy route and buy Kary's Roux. This makes the process go much faster.

This recipe will make enough gumbo for several meals. We fed eight people, had it for dinner on Sunday and still have enough for at least two more meals if not more (depending on how many people we are feeding). We froze the leftovers in two tall Tupperware cereal containers. One of them has all of the meat in it and the other one only has juice. We will add shrimp and crabmeat to the one with juice.

The first thing you need is a very large pot. Fill the pot 3/4 full. Sprinkle salt and pepper into the water. (I'm sorry but he does not use a measuring spoon so he does not know how much he puts in). Add 3/4 of the jar of Kary's Roux (or more if you like a stronger roux taste). Turn your fire on high and stir the roux until it is completely dissolved. At this time, he adds Tony Chachere's seasoning (again, no exact measurement). I find from past experiences it is better to go with less and that way you can add more later if you feel it needs it.

Once the roux has fully dissolved you add two bags of frozen chopped green bell peppers and two bags of chopped onions to your pot.

Add two stalks of diced green onions.

You can see from this photo that he added the ingredients while the roux was still dissolving. It is very important that you continue to stir the roux until it is fully dissolved. Otherwise, it will burn on the bottom of your pot and nobody wants to smell burnt roux!

Some people like a darker gumbo and a stronger roux taste. If you are one of those people, just add more roux to your pot.

Most people put in chicken on the bone in their gumbo. The bone adds flavor to the gumbo. Not my husband. He likes the chicken to be cut up in small pieces. He cuts up five boneless chicken breasts and seasons them with Tony's. Add your chicken to the gumbo and continue to stir.

The good stuff!

We normally use sausage from Market Basket in South Lake Charles or from Peto's in Moss Bluff, La. Both of these brands are very good. They are not fatty and greasy. However, our freezer needs to be restocked so we had to use a different brand. He used the brand Big Easy Foods smoked sausage with pork and beef. It was good but not nearly as good as what we usually use. Brooke loves deer sausage in her gumbo. We don't have any of that either. :(

I cooked five cups of rice in my rice cooker (no photos) and we had some left over for dinner on Sunday.

Next he chops up the sausage in bite size pieces and adds it to the gumbo. When the chicken turns white, you can turn your fire down low and let it cook for 1 1/2 hours. You can put a lid on your pot but continue to stir often because it is very easy for the pot to overflow.

My family likes to eat potato salad and crackers with their gumbo. It is very simple to make. I boiled six eggs and chopped them up. I boiled about seven potatoes chopped up and drained them. I added the chopped up eggs, Miracle Whip Lite (no measurement) until you reach the desired consistency. I added two teaspoons of mustard and stirred until it was mixed really well. Some people like to add pickles or relish to their potato salad. Most of my family likes it plain. However, I do have relish on the side just in case someone wants to add it to their own.