FRIED CHICKEN AND ANDOUILLE-FILE GUMBO

Fried Chicken and Andouille-File Gumbo image

Provided by Molly O'Neill

Categories one pot, soups and stews, main course

Time 1h30m

Yield 6 - 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 18

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Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 4-pound chicken, cut up, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 pound spicy andouille or chorizo sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/4 pound tasso ham, with or without spicy rind, or plain cooked ham, diced
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 stalks celery, diced
6 scallions, green and white portions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 large bay leaves
1 1/2 to 2 quarts water
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce to taste
2 tablespoons file powder
2 cups white rice

Steps:

Heat the oil in a heavy 5-quart pot over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown on all sides. Remove chicken and set aside.
Make a roux by blending the flour into the oil in the pot and stirring constantly with a long-handled spoon until the mixture is a deep coffee brown. Add the sausage, ham, onion, green pepper and celery. Saute, stirring, for about 10 minutes. Add the browned chicken, scallions, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaves and enough water to cover, stirring to incorporate the roux into the liquid.
Stir in salt and pepper and simmer the soup slowly, partly covered, until the chicken is tender, about 1 hour. If you are using the very spicy rind of tasso ham, you will probably not need cayenne or Tabasco. Otherwise, add either toward the end of cooking.
Take out the chicken and set aside just until cool enough to handle. Pull off the skin and bones and return the chicken to the soup in large pieces. Adjust seasoning if needed. The soup can be prepared in advance up to this point and stored, covered, in the refrigerator for 2 days. Skim fat from soup.
Bring the soup to a simmer. Five minutes before serving, remove from heat and stir in the file powder. Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes. Do not boil the soup after the file has been added. Mound rice in soup plates and ladle the gumbo over.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 852, UnsaturatedFat 35 grams, Carbohydrate 54 grams, Fat 51 grams, Fiber 3 grams, Protein 41 grams, SaturatedFat 12 grams, Sodium 1468 milligrams, Sugar 2 grams, TransFat 0 grams