one the menu

Since my weekends are consumed with cooking our lunches and dinners for the week I thought it would be fun to share my weekly cooking endeavours both good and bad.  That and I'm still suffering from a bad case of unabletowriteintellibly syndrome.

While Jay and I have our own tried and true favorite recipes, I also like to try out new recipes.  I was inspired by a conversation with a friend about Fall and crock pot cooking, about how Fall inspires stews, soups, and gumbo.  I found a crock pot recipe for gumbo here, but after reading through the comments I knew I had to make a few changes.  One substitution I made was using fresh tomatoes instead tomato juice; however I also added 2 cups of water.  Big mistake.

Overall I liked how it turned out, but I agree that it is not real gumbo. The test though is if Jay liked it and he did so I'm happy. I will definitely try this again this fall and winter with more tweaking of course.

I paired the gumbo soup with saffron rice as suggested by one of the commentators.  I used this recipe here.  Overall it was good, but I would not substitute the broth the recipe calls for with water. And don't skimp on the saffron, be sure to get nice "big" pinch.

Gumbo
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 (16-ounce) package frozen okra, thawed
4 links andouille sausage, sliced
1 onion, chopped 
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 bay leaves
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon tablespoon creole seasoning
1/2 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to your taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
5-6 tomatoes, diced 

In a slow-cooker, combine all remaining ingredients except the frozen okra. Mix well to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. Add frozen okra three hours before end. Serve with rice.


Enjoy!