So, I realize it has been pretty much forever and a day since I told you I would post an awesome recipe “tomorrow.”  I apologize for that.  Life got away from me.  Just pretend that today is tomorrow, mmmkay?  Thanks!

 

So, here is the promised recipe.  Sadly, I was such a slacker that I think the receipt must have been thrown away, so I don’t have a price for you. :(  Suffice to say, it was rather expensive, as shrimp tends to be.  However, it made a TON of food, so that probably offset the cost quite a bit.

 

 

I got this recipe from an awesome blog, Deals to Meals.

Chicken, Sausage & Shrimp Gumbo

4 T. olive oil
16 oz. pkg. frozen okra (surprisingly it is easy to find in the frozen section)
2 white or yellow onions, diced small
1 complete pkg./stalks celery, diced small
16 oz. pkg. smoked spicy sausage (I used Hillshire Farms–if you can find andouille sausage, use 1 lb. of that), sliced into rounds
2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into small pieces
5 cloves garlic, minced
10 c. chicken broth/stock (I used 10 c. water & chicken base–about 2 T.)
2 t. salt (or more to taste)
1 1/2 T. Cajun seasoning (plus more for the rice & to season the shrimp & chicken) 1 T. Creole seasoning
1 t. Gumbo File (if you can find it-if not, leave it out)
4 cans diced tomatoes
2 T. fresh parsley (for garnish)
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 lb. raw, deveined and tail removed shrimp

Brown Roux:
3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. flour

Dirty Rice:
4 c. cooked rice
Cajun seasoning
Fresh Parsley, chopped
2 T. lime juice

In a medium sized pan, begin making the dirty rice by adding 2 c. water and 2 c. rice to a pot. Season water/rice with 2 T. fresh parsley, about 1 t. cajun seasoning, and 2 T. lime juice. Cook as normal and keep warm until ready to serve soup.

In another medium sized pan, make the brown roux by adding the butter and flour to the pan. Cook on medium/high heat until the butter and flour mixture begins to brown. Continue cooking the roux until the roux becomes the color of a dark caramel (to be real authentic you continue cooking the roux until it is dark like chocolate–somewhere between caramel color and chocolate will be fine). Once the roux is done, add the chicken broth to the roux and mix well until combined. Set aside.

In a LARGE soup pot, add 2 T. of the oil with the onions. Saute until onions begin to be tender and soft. Add the frozen okra and continue to saute until okra begins to break down and become soft and slimy looking. Add the celery and green peppers to the onion/okra mixture (you may need a little more olive oil if the veggies are sticking too badly). Continue to saute until all of the vegetables are soft. Once they are tender, add the chicken stock to the large pot of vegetables and simmer while you are cooking the chicken and shrimp.

In the pot that the chicken stock/roux was in, add a little more olive oil and get the pan up to medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces and saute until they are nearly cooked through. Season the chicken heavily with Cajun Seasoning. When the chicken is done, add it to the large pot. To the same pot that the chicken was cooked in, add the sausage rounds and warm until golden brown. Add the cooked sausage to the pot. Bring the small pan once again to medium/high heat and add another 2 T. of oil. When the oil is hot, add the raw shrimp that has been cleaned, tails removed, and de-veined to the pan. Saute in the oil until the shrimp begins to be opaque and pink. Season shrimp as well with Cajun Seasoning. When the shrimp is cooked, add that to the large soup pot.

Now that everything is in the large soup pot. add the diced tomatoes (if you don’t like chunks you can puree the tomatoes first), and then add all of the seasonings. Let the soup simmer on low/medium until it begins to thicken and the meat is completely cooked (about 10-15 minutes).

When ready to serve, place about 1/4-1/2 c. of dirty rice in a bowl. Ladel 1-2 c. of soup on top of the rice. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.

This dish is AMAZING!  The kids all raved about it and my non left-over eating family had leftovers!  They loved this dish so much that my six year old requested it for dinner for her sixth birthday party!

 

Enjoy!