Living up to my Cajun roots....Easy Gumbo Recipe

Living up to my Cajun roots and I made my very first Gumbo. 

Now this is super easy to make and to much amazement 

my thirteen year old even ate it. Score!

Now, first a little history about my family. I found out earlier this year that from my Dad's side of the family we are Cajun. Apparently, they came from France or Wells...something like that and from what I can gather some people were forced or kicked out and they ended up down south I guess. I'm not too sure on how that all works out but I'm Cajun. So with that new knowledge I thought to myself why not make a new dish that reflects some family history and not just another dinner idea. 

The recipe I have I found on pinterest and then just kinda did my thing to make it mine. It's so easy and was amazing. The flavors were incredible and packed a great zesty punch. One of the best parts is that it's a crock pot dish, so you can set it and forget it. I used that time wisely and took a hour nap while it simmered. One can never have too many naps! 

Now for the fun part...what you'll need to make my easy chicken, shrimp, and sausage gumbo. Instead of adding the shrimp, try adding some Lobster! 

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups Chicken Broth

1 stick of butter

2 tab flour

2 cups cooked rice

3 cloves of garlic

3 basil leaves

1 sausage link

1 lbs chicken 

half an onion

2 stocks of celery

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 can tomato stewed canned

1 tea Cajun seasoning

1/4 tea cayenne pepper

1 green bell pepper

1 bag shrimp cleaned and de-tailed

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. You'll need a medium to large size skillet. I used the same pan for all the ingredients. 
2. First thing I did was heat my pan to low, I wanted to melt my butter slow while I cut up the garlic, onion, and green bell pepper. After everything was diced, I added the 3 cloves of garlic diced, the bell pepper diced, and half an onion diced. Slowly brought that to a low simmer and added two passes of salt and pepper. 
3. Next once that has had a chance to cook down a bit, I added about two tablespoons of flour.  I wanted to thicken up my butter mixture. Once mixed together I removed that from the heat and placed in my crock pot. 
4. Then I moved on to the sausage. I want this to have a nice golden brown color to it. It helps release all that great flavor that sausage brings to a dish. Once that has browned nicely, I added that to the crock pot as well. 
5. Now for the chicken. I used chicken tender and removed the fat and any unwanted parts, diced and cooked until white and not pink on the inside. Added to crock pot when completely cooked. 
6. Okay so all those yummy flavors are added, now let's go ahead and add the can of tomato paste, can of stewed tomatoes, and the seasonings. I used very little Cajun seasoning and never ended up adding the cayenne pepper. I have young kids and wasn't sure they'd like it too spicy. 
7. Once those ingredients have been added I stirred everything together and then added 1 cup of chicken broth. Mixed well and set temp to high and timer for 2 hours. Nap time!! :)
8. After 2 hours, I stirred and checked flavor. WOW!! Amazing! I didn't need to add anything else and just started making the rice. 
9. I used just a half a cup of rice to one cup of water. Cover on low for 20 minutes. No, lifting the lid!! :)
10. While that is cooking, we can clean and thaw the shrimp. I placed the shrimp in a small bowl full of warm water. Removed tails and set a side. 
11. Once rice was cooked, I removed it from the heat. Fluffed with a fork and added that to the crock pot. Mixed together and added the shrimp. Mixed together. Cooked for 25 mins longer to bring to a simmer. 
12. Yum, yum now you can eat it up!! I made bread that I heated up in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees wrapped in foil.

This was a fun and super easy recipe that really packed a flavorful punch. I didn't eat mine with shrimp and it was still fabulous! 

I hope you enjoy my delicious gumbo and be sure to share with friends and family. Oh my..you know what, you can also add some crawl dads. Make some corn on the cob and some potatoes! Nom nom!!