Sunday Gumbo

Ok, so this isn't what was on the stove last night.  I haven't taken a picture of that yet.  But, this is what was on the stove tonight.  My cast iron dutch oven is getting a workout!

Before I share this recipe, please note that although I do use a lot of recipes (I'm still learning this craft called "cooking"), when it comes to measuring spices, I don't.  I know what I like and although I use the recipes to help me figure out, if you will, the spices needed in a dish, I don't rely on them to tell me how much.

I realized after almost finishing making this, that I had made this before; however this time, it was much better.  A few more things about my quirky-cooking self:  1) I generally don't like cubed chicken in dishes like this; I prefer shredded.  2) The casings on sausages disgust me, so this time I took them off and added only the sausage meat.  3) Why put rice in the pot when you can pour the soup/stew over the rice?

I know what you're thinking, but at any rate, here's my "Sunday Gumbo."

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound Italian sausage links, sliced
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 2/3 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 cups frozen sliced okra

DIRECTIONS

1. In a Dutch oven, brown sausage and chicken in oil. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. In the drippings, saute red pepper, onion and celery until tender. Stir in the seasonings; cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, rice and sausage mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender.
2. Stir in tomatoes, shrimp and okra; cook for 10 minutes or until shrimp turn pink, stirring occasionally. 

 My modifications:  I didn't use marjoram.  Who has that on hand anyways?  I used a green bell pepper instead of red - cheaper.  My can of tomatoes was bigger than suggested and had some Italian herbs already - I used Furmano's.  Instead of brown rice, I just reused some of the rice from the black bean soup from before.  There really wasn't real measuring, just sample as you go.  I hope to have this at lunch tomorrow.    :-)

Original recipe found at Allrecipes.com

Enjoy!