St. Charles Street Chicken Gumbo Recipe

About four years ago, I realized that we didn't have a good recipe for chicken gumbo. So I found 4 or 5 recipes and combined parts from each of them to make the one that I'm listing in this post. Since then, my family and I have been kicking off Fat Tuesday with a huge pot of this chicken gumbo.

I wanted it to try to replicate the taste of the gumbo served at Heaven on Seven, a great Cajun restaurant located on Wabash Street in Chicago. Although this recipe is not quite as good as the Heaven on Seven version, it does come close.

Preparing chicken gumbo is a little labor intensive since we are making the chicken stock from scratch. It will take a couple of hours from start to finish. But hopefully it will be worth the effort. Just put on a Clifton Chenier CD and be patient. There is nothing better than a hearty dish like this in early March!!

Recommended Equipment:
Large, deep stockpot
Cast iron skillet

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken cut into major parts (wings, thighs, breasts, etc.) - do not remove the skin
2 carrots, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 handful of parsley, finely chopped
2 medium yellow onions, diced
1 bay leaf
1 cup of white wine
10 pepper corns
1 tspn kosher salt
1 tspn black pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cups of okra, sliced into wheels

3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 medium yellow onions, diced
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 ribs of celery, diced
7 cloves of garlic, diced
1 package of andoullie sausage (about a pound), cut into thin wheels
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 tspn basil
2 tspn cayenne pepper
2 tspn thyme
Tobasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Add chicken, carrots, parsley, onion, bay leaf, celery, white wine, pepper corns, kosher salt, and black pepper to the pot and cover with water (about 10 cups of water).
2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat then reduce to low and simmer for 2 hours.
3. Using tongs, remove the chicken from the pot and let it cool on a cutting board. When the chicken has cooled, remove the skin and place it in a medium sized pot. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and place it in a bowl and set aside. Place the bones in the pot with the skin. Cover the skin and bones with water and then place the pot over low heat for at least 1 hour.
4. Pour the remaining contents of the large stock pot through a strainer into another large pot or bowl. This is the chicken stock that you will use for the gumbo. Discard the spent vegetables and small pieces of chicken that were caught in the strainer.
5. Pour the chicken stock back into the large stock pot. After the pot with the chicken bones has simmered for at least an hour, strain it into a bowl, discard the bones and skin, and then add this chicken stock to the stock pot as well.
6. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the okra to the skillet and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove the okra from the skillet and reserve for later. Do not clean the skillet.
7. Add 3 tablespoons each of butter and all-purpose flour to the skillet over medium heat. Whisk the butter and flour constantly for about 15 to 20 minutes until they form a roux that is the color of peanut butter.
8. Add the diced onions to the roux and cook until the onions have softened and become translucent. Add the onions and the roux to the stock pot. Do not clean the skillet.
9. Add 3 tablespoons each of butter and all-purpose flour to the skillet over medium heat. Whisk the butter and flour constantly for about 15 to 20 minutes until they form a roux that is the color of peanut butter.
10. Add the diced garlic, green pepper, and celery to the roux and cook until the vegetables have softened. Add the vegetables and the roux to the stock pot.
11. Add the chicken, okra, tomatoes, andoullie sausage, basil, cayenne pepper, and thyme.
12. Partially cover the pot and simmer for at least 2 more hours.
13. Season with Tobasco sauce, salt, and pepper to taste.

United States Louisiana [ print this recipe for St. Charles Street Gumbo ]