This is my modification of a recipe from The Cajun Ninja. He has a Pinterest site, as well as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. I took his recipe and made a few modifications to suit my taste. Here is what I came up with.
Ingredients: 1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 whole yellow or white onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 or 4 sticks of celery, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 lbs. of smoked or Andouille sausage, or a combination of both
2 whole rotisserie chickens
2 32 oz. containers of unsalted chicken stock
4-6 cups of water
1 to 2 tablespoons of Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
3 dried bay leaves
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Directions: Heat a large pot over medium heat. Chop the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Slice the Andouille and/ or smoked sausage into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Sear the sausage in a hot skillet. Pull apart chickens. Place meat in one bowl, and save the bones, skin, and other stuff for later. Put all prepared ingredients in the refrigerator. In a pot, off to the side, add about 4- 5 cups of water. Heat over high heat until water is nearly boiling. Add in all of the bones, skin, and remaining meat from the chickens to the pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes. In the other pot that has been heating, add the butter and allow to melt. Once the butter is melted, slowly add in the flour, stirring constantly, until a paste has formed. Continue stirring flour and butter mixture until it becomes liquid again. Stir every couple of minutes to prevent burning. You are now making a roux. You have to stay on the roux, stirring frequently to prevent burning. This may take well over an hour, but the roux is ready when it turns to a dark chocolate color. After about 30-40 minutes, remove your chicken remains from the burner and allow to cool for a few minutes. Pour your homemade chicken stock through a strainer, removing all of the solids. Set your stock aside until needed. Continue stirring your roux. Once it gets to a dark chocolate color, you want to add in your “Holy Trinity”…the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Once you add these in, you have to stir continuously, so as not to burn them. Your roux will really turn dark at this point. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Now, here is something you can do, but do not have to do. That skillet you seared the sausage in…over medium heat, add in a couple of spoonfuls of chicken stock to deglaze the pan. All that “stuff” in the skillet is “flavor’ Pour that liquid through a strainer, into your stock. After about ten minutes of cooking your Holy Trinity into your roux, start ladling in your chicken stock a little at a time, stirring continuously, until it becomes creamy. At that point, add the rest of the stock in. Now, what I am talking about here is your homemade chicken stock, as well as the two containers of the store-bought stuff. Add in your Cajun seasoning, salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, sausage, and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat to a simmer, and cook for one hour. After one hour, you can skim the oil that has come to the surface, or just leave it be. Add in the chicken, and simmer for another hour. Turn the heat off. At this point, you can add about 16 oz. of cold water to bring all of the flavors together. This is not necessary if you let it cool for 20 minutes or so before serving. To serve, cook 1-2 cups of long-grain white rice, ladle gumbo over rice, and enjoy.