Do You Dutch Oven?? Chicken, Sausage & Fish Gumbo

Cooold weather.....For some reason I just can't get my mind wrapped around it this year...which is unusual cause I normally love it.  I may be becoming the only thirty-something snowbird south of the mid-west.

With cold weather blowing outside, my thoughts turn to comfort food.  Not just any mind you...HOT comfort food.  Boiling, bubbling and simmering away on the stove or in my case dutch oven.  It also helps if the heat is not all temperature inspired if you catch my drift...jalapeno, cayenne, habanero or pick your favorite pepper always liven up the dish.  I don't like to be in pain when eating but if you're not wiping your forehead every so often.....it's not hot enough!!

Now I've made gumbo before but never in the dutch oven so there was a bit of preparation involved.  When I first decided to make it I had to dig for the basics.  I had some ginormous (my kids say this all the time) chicken breasts in the fridge along with some very good polish sausage.  Most gumbo's are made with shrimp but I didn't really feel like shrimp this time.  The benefits of being the cook in my house.....or yours....is that you get to pick what goes into the pot.. :-)  I did however find some fish in the freezer, caught by my own hand, filleted and anxiously waiting for their culinary debut.

The chicken, sausage and fish were all cooked prior to the gumbo pot to speed the process along.  It was too close to dinner time to have a slow simmer....The ingredients are as follows:

Ingredients

• 1 - 12" Dutch Oven (or a heavy 6 quart pot)
• 2 - 3 large chicken breasts
• 3 links polish sausage
• 2 lbs fish fillets (I had brown and black bass here)
• 3 stalks celery (diced)
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper (diced)
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper (diced)  I didn't have any at this time.
• 1.5 tsp creole seasoning
• Half cup veg oil
• Half cup flour
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 - 2 jalapeno peppers
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 can tomatoes, diced
• Half tsp dried thyme
• 4 green onions, sliced (I was out of these)
• 2 tbs parsley, chopped
• Cooked rice

Brown and cut up chicken breasts, seasoned with half tsp creole seasoning in 1 -2 TBS of oil.  Set aside.

Cut sausage into thin (1/2" - 3/4") cross-cut pieces and brown in skillet until it starts to blacken.  Pat excess oil dry. 

Fry fish fillets in remaining sausage oil and pat dry.  Combine all meats in dutch oven. 

Heat remaining oil, add flour, cook and stir till roux is deep blonde, do not burn!

Add onions, peppers and celery, and stir. Cook about 3 or 4 min stirring constantly.

Add garlic, broth, tomatoes, seasonings, and meat. Bring to boil and cook about 1 hour, skim fat as needed.

Add green onions and parsley, and salt and pepper to taste, cook for 10 mins longer. Serve over rice.

With some delicious dutch oven cornbread....You're read to eat!!

I was a little short on chicken stock and I had a LOT of meat in there so I added a bottle of my favorite beer to the mix.  For those of you that don't partake, not to worry....the alcohol cooks out entirely but it will give an aromatic to the gumbo in my opinion as well as a great flavor.  Enjoy!!

This post is part of the following blog carnivals......Go check out these great sites!!

Pennywise Platter Thursday
Recipe Swap Thursday
Fight Back Friday
Friday Potluck