Soil to Story

There are so many reasons I have no business writing a recipe blog.

I have nothing poetic to say about steam rising from a bowl at dusk. I can’t style food for shit. My photography skills are nil. And I do not have the patience for the “every Sunday, growing up, my grandmother…” preamble when the reality is that I was hungry, and there was a bell pepper in the fridge.

Oh, and I don’t measure things when I cook.

Which makes this whole blog endeavor feel slightly fraudulent any time there’s food involved.

But I got in a gumbo mood the other day. We had andouille. We had chicken. We had homemade chicken broth. That’s enough to start trouble.

And I was feeling lazy. So I made food-processor gumbo.

I like my andouille diced fine… almost ground. I’m sure that’s heresy somewhere, and I apologize to whichever region would like to revoke my cooking privileges. But when it’s chopped that small, the flavor spreads and seeps into everything. Every bite tastes smoky instead of just the bites with sausage in them.

I started with a caramel roux: oil and flour. Then in went the finely diced andouille to sizzle and render. The vegetables (onion, bell pepper, celery) got the lazy treatment in the food processor.

Garlic. Spices. Stock. The whole thing simmered until it smelled like I had tried much harder than I did.

I poached a chicken breast in the pot, shredded it, and tossed it back in. Normally I’d add okra but we didn’t have any. Or parsley. Or scallions.

It was good!

The Very Approximate Recipe

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 andouille sausages, diced fine
• 1 yellow onion, diced fine
• 1/4 red onion, diced fine
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced fine
• 4 stalks celery, diced fine
• 5 cups homemade chicken stock
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp salt

Method, roughly:

1. Make a roux with oil and flour over medium heat, stirring constantly until deep caramel brown.
2. Add andouille and cook a few minutes to render flavor.
3. Add finely chopped vegetables and cook until softened.
4. Stir in garlic and spices, ground in a spice grinder.
5. Add stock and bring to a simmer.
6. Poach chicken in the gumbo until cooked through. Remove, shred, and return to pot.
7. Simmer until it tastes right. Serve with rice.

I have no business writing a recipe blog. But I do know how to feed my people.