Happy last day of 2012!
Holy crap! Another Year has gone by! Sure goes fast as you get older!
So tonight I will be spending my New Years with my good friend Stacey and she is making Gumbo! YUM! Love spending time with Stacey! She is a busy lady so when I get to see her, it’s really great and I love the time we get
So in honor of her making gumbo I am going to post this recipe:
3 slices bacon, chopped (Doubled smoked bacon = YUM)
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
salt & pepper
1-1/2lbs chicken breasts, cut into-bite sized pieces and seasoned with salt & pepper (I also seasoned mine with extra cajun seasoning, as you can NEVER have too much)
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
32oz chicken broth (plus more for reheating)
28oz crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or more or less)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup long grain rice
1.Heat a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add bacon
and cook until crispy
then remove to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside, reserving bacon fat in pot (add extra virgin olive oil if necessary to get 2 Tablespoons fat total in pot.) Add onion, bell pepper, and celery
then season with salt and pepper
and saute for 5 minutes, or until veggies are softened. Add chicken and Cajun seasoning
then cook for 5 more minutes. Add garlic
then cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
2.Sprinkle flour over veggies and chicken
then stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, until flour turns golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add about a cup of chicken broth
then scrape browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add remaining chicken broth, crushed tomatoes,
water,
bay leaves,
red chili pepper flakes,
and salt then bring soup to a boil.
Add rice
then cover pot, turn heat down to medium-low, and simmer, stirring often, for 15-20 minutes or until rice is just barely tender (it will continue to cook and soften in soup.) Add cooked bacon back into the soup then let it sit and thicken off the heat for 10 minutes.
Remove bay leaves and serve.
Here is that recipe for you again:
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
salt & pepper
1-1/2lbs chicken breasts, cut into-bite sized pieces and seasoned with salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
32oz chicken broth (plus more for reheating)
28oz crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or more or less)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup long grain rice
1.Heat a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy then remove to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside, reserving bacon fat in pot (add extra virgin olive oil if necessary to get 2 Tablespoons fat total in pot.) Add onion, bell pepper, and celery then season with salt and pepper and saute for 5 minutes, or until veggies are softened. Add chicken and Cajun seasoning then cook for 5 more minutes. Add garlic then cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
2.Sprinkle flour over veggies and chicken then stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, until flour turns golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add about a cup of chicken broth then scrape browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add remaining chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, water, bay leaves, red chili pepper flakes, and salt then bring soup to a boil. Add rice then cover pot, turn heat down to medium-low, and simmer, stirring often, for 15-20 minutes or until rice is just barely tender (it will continue to cook and soften in soup.) Add cooked bacon back into the soup then let it sit and thicken off the heat for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve.
Crazy Jamie 