Jim Cowan's Recipe

Combo Gumbo

Category: Recipes

1 whole chicken
2 lbs baby cooked shrimp, frozen
1 lb medium shrimp
1 lb large shrimp
3/4 oz pkg dried shrimp
1 lg bacon
1 lb smoked sausage
1 lb Kielbasa
2 medium onions
1 cup flour
rice
oil (as needed)
2 rounded Tbsps chopped garlic
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin seed
1/2 tsp ground oregano
2 tbsps rubbed sage
1/2 tsp ground thyme
3 tbsps sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp ceyenne pepper
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce

Cut up and wash chicken, placing in large stock pot. Fill 1/2 full with water, mix the seasons together and add 1/2 of the seasonings to the pot. Bring to rapid boil and reduce heat to medium cooking 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Remove chicken pieces from pot and let cool, leaving the stock to simmer. Slice the sausage and Kielbasa into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick pieces. Reconstitute the dried shrimp in cool water. Chop the onions coursely. Fry the bacon crispy in a large cast iron skillet and remove and drain on paper towels, breaking into small bits when cooled. Make sure skillet is hot with the bacon grease and add flour, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Continue cooking until the roux is "dark chocolate" in color. (Takes approximately 45 minutes.) Make sure it does not burn! You will have to start over if it burns. When roux is dark chocolate, place onions in and stir until opaque. You may need to put a cup or two of the stock into the skillet to thin it down a little. Remove from heat and place the entire volume in with the stock. Add the other half of the spices to the stock at this time. Debone the chicken, and cut into bite size pieces if neccesary, putting this back into the stock. Put the bacon and cut-up sausage and Kielbasa into the pot, and stir. Put the soaked dried shrinp, with the liquid, into the pot. If neccesary, peel and devein the fresh (if frozen, thaw first) shrimp and put it into the pot about 30 minutes before serving. The gumbo should simmer for three to four hours before serving over rice cooked according to directions.

I know this is a long recipe, and it is an all day process when I do it, but I think it is worth the effort. I just started putting things together one day in the early 1990's and after serving it to my family, decided to write the recipe down. I have received many compliments from cohorts and my students when I was still teaching at a college in South Arkansas. Some of them were Cajun, so I was proud of that. As "Mikey" would say, "try it, you'll like it!" I hope you do anyway.