Sausage Gumbo

After a blissful week off of work for the holidays, Vasily and I spent New Years in Nashville with our dear friends Amy and Justin from Denver. Amy is a fantastic cook and told me about this recipe for Smoked Sausage and Chicken Gumbo from one of her favorite food bloggers: Iowa Girl Eats! 

Recharged by everyone's New Years resolutions, I was excited to get back into the kitchen!

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon grapeseed or vegetable oil, divided
• 14oz Andouille sausage, sliced into half moons
• 4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (about 1-1/4lb)
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
• 6 Tablespoons gluten-free or all-purpose flour (I used white rice flour)
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 small celery stalks, chopped
• 1 large shallot or 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 56oz low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more or less, optional)

Directions

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a 6+ quart Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage then saute until browned, 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a plate then set aside. Season both sides of chicken thighs with 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning then place skin side down in Dutch oven. Sear on both sides until golden brown, 3-4 minutes a side (does not need to be cooked through,) then transfer to plate with sausage and set aside.
2. Remove Dutch oven from heat for a few minutes to cool slightly then place back over medium heat. Add remaining 3 Tablespoons oil then sprinkle in flour and whisk constantly until mixture is the color of caramel, 10-15 minutes (this is your roux.) Add bell pepper, celery, and shallot or onion then saute until vegetables are slightly tender, 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the Dutch oven often with a wooden spoon to make sure roux doesn't burn. Add garlic and tomato paste then saute for one more minute.
3. Add a couple big glugs of chicken broth at a time to the Dutch oven, using the wooden spoon to scrape up any bits on the bottom. Add remaining chicken broth, remaining 1 Tablespoon Cajun seasoning, bay leaves, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, sauteed sausage and chicken thighs then turn heat up to bring gumbo to a boil. Turn heat down to medium then simmer uncovered for 1-1/2 hours, occasionally skimming off the fat that rises to the top.
4. Transfer chicken to a cutting board then remove and discard skin and bones. Shred chicken then add back into the gumbo. Remove bay leaves then taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve over cooked white rice.

If I've learned anything, I've learned that no cooking experiment in my kitchen goes off without a hitch.

I made my grocery list and we headed to the grocery. The list wasn't long, all of the ingredients were reasonable.

Turns out, New Years Day means Kroger is out of rotisserie chickens and I wasn't about to figure out how to cook chicken thighs. We abandoned the chicken and went for "Sausage Gumbo." No problem.

Once we had all of the ingredients, I excitedly set out chopping the peppers, onions and sausage while humming along to Spotify. I browned the sausage perfectly and thought, "I am such a good cook. Why don't I cook all the time?"

When it came to making the "roux," however, the wheels fell off. I still do not understand what went wrong. I read these instructions 100 times and followed them precisely.

Remove Dutch oven from heat for a few minutes to cool slightly then place back over medium heat. Add remaining 3 Tablespoons oil then sprinkle in flour and whisk constantly until mixture is the color of caramel, 10-15 minutes (this is your roux.) Add bell pepper, celery, and shallot or onion then saute until vegetables are slightly tender, 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the Dutch oven often with a wooden spoon to make sure roux doesn't burn. Add garlic and tomato paste then saute for one more minute.

I ended up with a ball of gloop that began to burn in my Dutch oven. Like some of the best amateur chefs, I added some chicken broth thinking that would make it liquid again. Nope. Just a bigger ball of gloop that looked more like cookie dough than the beautiful Iowa Girl roux in her pictures.

Dejected, I slopped the failed roux into the trash, sauteed the veggies without it, poured the chicken broth in and mixed in a tablespoon of flour to thicken. To my horror, the broth didn't thicken, the flour formed terrible clumps that laughed at me from the pot. I whisked anyway, confirmed we had a fresh tub of hummus, added the spices and the sausage back into the pot and let it all simmer.

Against all odds, we didn't have to eat hummus for dinner! The "gumbo" turned out pretty tasty! It was a little spicy for my preferences, but that's my own fault for abandoning the concept of measurement during my seasoning step. Vasily had two bowls, so I know it was a winner!

Have you ever made gumbo? What did I do wrong?

Just Devoured: The Goldfinch

Last month, my book club voted to read Donna Tartt's new novel, The Goldfinch.

This book is 800-something pages, so many of the book clubbers were discouraged by the sheer volume and decided to read something else. Me, on the other hand, I downloaded that bad boy to my Kindle and never thought twice about the heft. I sped my way through this book and enjoyed every minute. 

The novel opens with 13-year-old Theo Decker and his mom on their way to his school in Manhattan to meet the principal to talk about why trouble-maker Theo was expelled. They stop in at the MET to see Mrs. Decker's favorite painting. They never make it to the meeting with the principal because about 10 pages in, there is an explosion at the MET killing Mrs. Decker. After Theo recovers from the shock of the explosion, he escapes the museum taking The Goldfinch painting with him. 

The rest of the book follows Theo through the rest of his adolescence and on to adulthood navigating the loss of his mother, the struggle of what to do with the painting and the perpetual bad choices that he makes. 

Slate's Bookclub Podcast said they thought the book was long and a little slow when the characters went to Las Vegas, and while I would mostly agree, I didn't mind. The book was so beautifully written that I felt like I was lazily watching a movie, not reading an 800-page book. I loved being in the world that Tartt created and I was engrossed in the suspense of what trouble Theo would create for himself next. 

Have you read The Goldfinch? I'm curious to know what you thought? 

Today I learned I do not like Oregano

After an incredibly fun Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to whip up something to eat before our crazy short week started. Thanks to Real Simple, I found a delicious, healthy and easy pasta meal!

3/4 pound linguine (or your noodle of choice)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups fresh corn - from 2 ears
2 cloves garlic, sliced
kosher salt and black pepper
2 pints cherry / grape tomatoes, halved
2 small zucchini, cut into ribbons with a vegetable peeler (you can just cut them, no one will care)
2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves (or not)
4 ounces crumbled goat cheese

1. Follow the pasta box instructions. Keep 3/4 cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta and return to the pot.
2. While the pasta is doing its thing, heat the oven to 350. Spread the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast, tossing occasionally, until fragrant - 8-10 minutes.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the corn, garlic, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and cook. Toss occasionally until the corn is tender. This should take 2-4 minutes.
4. Next, add the cooked corn, tomatoes, zucchini and 1/2 cup of the cooking water to the pot with the pasta. Cook over medium until the liquid is slightly thickened and coats the pasta 2-3 minutes. You can add more cooking water as needed.
5. Serve sprinkled with oregano, walnuts and goat cheese.

As with all recipes, do what you like. I bought my oregano thinking "Maybe today I'll like it!"

Not so much. I picked it off my portion and ate with abandon. Don't feel like you have to fit anyone's mold. If you don't like oregano, add a little more pepper! And don't apologize.

I hope you all had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend!