Sunday Gumbo

Source: All Recipes

My husband has grown very fond of the Cheescake Factory's version of this dish, and I've never made gumbo before, so I decided to give it a go. It was VERY tasty! The only thing I did not like was the Italian sausage. I picked up a different brand of Italian turkey sausage than I normally do, so I'm not sure if that was the problem, but the sausage had a heavy licorice flavor. Weird. While eating, I actually thought it would be better with kielbasa--I'll try that next time! The original recipe calls for slicing the sausage and then cooking. If you've never sliced raw Italian sausage before, it's pretty difficult. I would suggest browning them on the outside and THEN slicing.

Sunday Gumbo

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour

1 pound of Italian sausage links (or Kielbasa!)
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cubed (I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they are so much more tender and flavorful!)
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery hearts, chopped
1 teaspoon dried majoram
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cans of chicken broth
2/3 cup uncooked brown rice
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pound of shrimp
2 cups frozen sliced okra

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven, brown sausage and chicken in oil. Remove with a slotted spoon. Slice sausage and set entire mixture aside and keep warm. In the drippings, saute the pepper, onion, and celery until tender. Add in garlic powder, thyme, majoram, and 1/4 tsp of the cayenne pepper. Stir in the broth, rice, meat mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.

2. Stir in tomatoes, shrimp, and okra. Add additional cayenne pepper to taste. Bring back to a boil, and reduce heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes until shrimp turn bright pink, stirring occasionally.

This is very hot (temperature wise) if you serve it immediately! I would let it sit for a few minutes before serving.