Chicken Gumbo Soup

Chicken gumbo soup, the name itself can be deceiving. I've seen it made from everything including Campbell's gumbo soup mix. Now, we all know that's not real chicken gumbo soup, but it sure makes a quick meal. Obviously, you need chicken, preferably skinless and cut up in smaller pieces.

For the gumbo part, we're going to need a roux. That's nothing more than equal amounts of lard, oil, or butter mixed with flour. When mixing the roux on heat, make sure you don't stop stirring. If you do, it will burn very quickly and you'll have to start over again. This is critical. There are several stages you'll go through with your roux. It will start out almost a vanilla color and the more you stir and the hotter it gets, it will continually get darker. Ideally, you want it to get a very dark chocolaty color.

Now, to help from keeping the roux from burning, you need to add what they call the "Holy Trinity" of gumbos, this being chopped onions, celery and bell peppers. I don't know why they call it the holy trinity, because there is no such thing, but that's a whole other subject! When this is all added to the stock, it will thicken. That's why this name is deceiving, chicken gumbo soup. Soup usually means liquidy and the gumbo will be somewhat thick.

Then there's always the question of whether or not to add Andouille sausage or not, and another consideration regarding okra, because to be genuine, both of these items are necessary.  There are also spices and herbs to be considered, to each his own, but I've learned that to be authentic most, if not all the above ingredients are necessary.