Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

4 generations of a Louisiana family have declared this gumbo recipe a roaring success! Each generation tweaks it a little to suit their individual family, but the basic recipe is always the same.

• 1 package of chicken (approx. 4 chicken breasts)
• 1 package of smoked sausage (approx. 2 large links)
• 1 head of celery
• 1 Bell Pepper
• 1 onion
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Cloves
• Favorite Spices
• Small amount of olive oil
• Cooked Rice

Season chicken breasts with your favorite spices, add some olive oil to a sautee pan and brown the chicken on either side, do not fully cook the chicken at this point. In a seperate pan, a dutch oven, create a roux. Remove the chicken from the sautee pan and add to the dutch oven, cover with water. Allow dutch oven to simmer until chicken is cooked through.

In the sautee pan (with the chicken drippings), add diced onion, diced celery, and diced bell pepper for a vegetable sweat. Sprinkle sweat with salt and pepper. When onions are approaching a soft state, add crushed garlic cloves to the sweat. After a few moments, add vegetables to the dutch oven and allow to simmer along with chicken until the chicken is cooked through.

Once chicken is cooked through, remove it from the dutch oven and set aside to cool. While chicken is cooling dice the smoked sausage and add it to the dutch oven. If more liquid is required add additional water. Once chicken has cooled to the touch, dice or shred it and place back into the dutch oven. Allow items to simmer together to form a more complex, melded flavor.

Once the gumbo has had a chance to meld flavors, serve over cooked rice. File' can be added to thicken the gumbo as well as for additional flavor. Crackers can also be used to aid in eating this hearty stew.

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