Gumbo

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
★★★★★
Cold Weather Recipes, Main Dish, Soups
Prep Time: 20  | Cook Time: 2 hr 15 min  | Difficulty: Hard  | Servings: 8 

Ingredients:
3 lbs chicken legs (any bone-in pieces work, but I use all chicken legs so it's easy to pick the bones out.) 
1 lb smoked sausage (I think pork gives the most flavor)
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion
1 green bellpepper
2 stalks celery
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 bunch of green onions
4 cloves garlic
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
cajun seasoning (I use Tony Chachere's)
tabasco sauce
Gravy Master or other browning sauce (only if your roux isn't dark enough)
Cooked white rice (I usually have 1/2 cup cooked rice per person for normal eaters and 1 cup for hungry eaters )

Directions:
Finely chop onion, bellpepper, celery, and garlic. Slice green onions. If using a whole chicken, cut into pieces. Cut sausage into 1/2 inch slices.
Heat oil in 6 qt or larger pot (cast iron, or any heavy-bottom pot works best). 
Add flour and stir constantly on medium heat to make a dark brown roux (about 15-20 minutes). Cook the roux here just a tiny bit lighter than you want the finished product, because it will continue to darken as you cook the veggies and meat in it.

Add onion, bellpepper, celery, and half of green onions to roux and cook 5 minutes, stirring often. 
Add chicken, season generously with salt/pepper and cajun seasoning.  Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring to brown the chicken.
Add garlic, parsley, and thyme and stir another minute.
Add sausage, chicken stock, water, and a few dashes of tabasco sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat.
Cook 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so. 
Taste the gumbo and add seasoning if necessary.  
Cook 1 hour.
If your roux didn't turn out as dark as you wanted it, add a teaspoon of gravy master and cook additional 5 minutes.
Spoon out the chicken pieces to debone, and then add the chicken back to the pot. 
Skim grease from the top if it looks really greasy.
Serve with rice and remaining green onions for garnish.