re: Chicken and andoullie gumbo

You seem passionate about making gumbo. So I'm going to teach you the secrets of my clan to make a good gumbo, great. First you need to find file'. This is where the word gumbo came from. The choctaw indians taught the early settlers how to cook with it. They called it kombo. It did not come from some long african word meaning okra. If you cant find it go to unclebillspice.com. This guy is the real deal. He picks the sassafras leaves and cures them. Then he smashes them into file' with a wooden mortar and pestle. Very cool website. Second don't worry about andoullie. I use smoke pork sausage from bergerons. If you have good sausage in your area use that. Now what your doing wrong. Way to much onion, not enough celery and garlic. Lose the bellpepper. Use equal amount of flour and oil. Do not put hot water in roux. you're cooking the gumbo way to long, the chicken will get stringy. The only time you put a lid on gumbo is when its done. Now the recipe for gumbo using one cup of flour. This should feed about six people. Wash celery, parsley and green onions then dry with paper towel. Sometimes they have dirt and sand on them. This will make gumbo gritty. Chop one onion and six stalks of celery. Keep celery leaves. Set aside. Pour one cup oil in pot. Add flour when oil is hot. Never stop stirring. Takes about three beers to make a roux. When roux is the right color add celery and onions. Cook and stir about five mins. Add six cloves of chopped garlic. Cook another five mins. Pour in water. stir until roux blends with water. If you don't, it will stick on the bottom of the pot. When gumbo comes to a boil add raw chicken. Let it come back to low boil. Gumbo will look nasty with oil and white foam from chicken. Skim off, this is very important. Cook for about thirty mins. Keep skimmimg the oil. Now add your seasoning and chicken base. Add sausage, this will bring more oil to top. Skim off. Cook for another ten mins. I like gumbo on the thin side, if its to thick add a little water. Add parsley green onions and celery leaves. Gumbo should be ready. Turn off heat. When it stops boiling add file'. If you add file' when its boiling it will bead up. Taste gumbo adjust seasoning to taste. Remember you can always add, but you can never take out. Enjoy.