Crock Pot Gumbo

While I enjoy Cajun food, it's typically not something I cook too often.  My brother is the Cajun expert, so I usually enjoy it when he makes it and never have to put forth the effort myself.  But for some reason, a big pot of gumbo was sounding good to me last week.  Gumbo is a food of love and if I cooked gumbo for real on a weeknight, we'd be eating around 10pm and that just wasn't going to cut it.  So I ran to the store on my lunch break and decided to make a mediocre crock pot version.  It would still have gumbo ingredients and the same general feel, but without the hours of love a delicious, authentic pot would require.  If you're from Louisiana, do not judge me. I know this is not the real deal Holyfield, mmkay?

What you need:
-Chicken (I used 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they were cheap)
-1 lb of sausage
-1/2 lb of shrimp
-Frozen okra
-Can of tomatoes
-Chopped onion, bell pepper, celery
-Chicken stock
-Flour
-Oil
-Seasoning (I used salt, pepper, cayenne, and Emeril's Essence)

I hope I remember what I did... Let's see...

First I made a dark brown roux using 1/3 cup of flour and 1/3 cup of oil.  Just put it in a sauce pan and stir and stir and stir some more until it gets the color you want it to be.

Next, I seasoned the chicken with some salt, pepper, Essence, and cayenne and put it into the crock pot.  I poured about 2 cups or so of chicken broth in and stirred in my roux.  Then I dumped in my chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery.

Next came the can of tomatoes, which I don't think goes in "real gumbo," but whatever.  I turned the crock pot on low and went back to work.  It simmered for probably 5 or 6 hours?

Once I was home from work and facebooked about how delicious the house smelled, I poured in the okra.  I also tasted for my seasonings and likely added more salt, pepper, Essence, and a lot more cayenne.  I like it spicy!

Then while the rice was cooking, I added the shrimp.  (I'd let the okra cook for about the last 45 minutes and the shrimp for about the last 20-30 minutes.)  Time to eat!

 

It wasn't as good as my brother's, but it totally worked for a quick weeknight meal!