Chicken & linguica gumbo

8 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 pounds Linguica sausage, cut in 1/4-inch-thick rounds
Vegetable oil
1 each (2 1/2- to 3 1/2-pound) chicken, cut in pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup Flour plus 6 tablespoons flour
1½ cup (about 2 bunches) finely chopped green onions, green and
White parts
1 cup Finely chopped celery
½ cup Finely chopped green pepper
¼ cup Finely chopped parsley
3 eaches Garlic cloves, minced
9 cups Chicken stock
Cayenne pepper and/or Tabasco sauce to taste
2 eaches To 6 teaspoons file powder, according to taste
4 cups Hot, freshly cooked rice
Finely chopped green onions for garnish

Directions

Cook the sausage in a large, heavy ungreased skillet over low heat, turning the slices frequently with a spatula until there is a film of fat over the bottom of the pan. Increase the heat to medium and, turning the slices occasionally, continue to fry the sausage until the slices are browned, about 6 minutes. Remove the sausage to paper towels to drain. Add vegetable oil to the fat in the skillet to a depth of ½ inch. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.

Place ½ cup of the flour on a plate. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour and shake of the excess. Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. fry the chicken pieces in the hot fat until they are golden brown on both sides and the eat is cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Reserve 6 tablespoons of fat from the skillet an discard the rest. Whisk the reserved 6 tablespoons fat with the remaining 6 tablespoons of flour in a large, heavy pot until smooth.

Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until the fat-flour mixture (called a roux) is nut brown. This will take several minutes. Do not allow the roux to burn. Add the green onions, celery, green pepper, parsley and garlic to the roux. Cook the mixture, stirring over medium-low heat until the vegetables have softened. Then, stirring constantly, slowly add the chicken stock.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat. Add the sausage to the gumbo. Season to taste with salt, pepper, cayenne and/or Tabasco sauce. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While gumbo is simmering, bone the cooked chicken and, using your fingers, shred the meat into pieces. Add to the gumbo and simmer for 15 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. NOTE: The gumbo tastes best if prepared a day or two in advance and refrigerated. Let the gumbo cool completely at room temperature, uncovered, before refrigerating.

Reheat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, remove the gumbo from the heat. Taste for seasoning++it should be spicy. Stir in the file powder to taste. (Note: File powder turns stringy as it cooks, so it should not be added to the gumbo until the pot has been removed from the heat.) Transfer the gumbo to a heated tureen and serve it immediately, accompanied by a bowl of rice. To serve, place about ½ cup rice to one side of a heated soup plate.. Ladle the gumbo around the rice and garnish each serving with a sprinkle of finely chopped green onions. Serves 8.

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