Crockpot Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

I've been in the mood for okra lately. A friend of ours from the Ivory Coast makes this amazing African okra dish. She made it for us several times when we used to live by them in Indiana. Now that we are in Michigan, I miss her amazing cooking. (I should have gotten her recipe and watched her make it before we moved! :) So I searched the internet for okra recipes and found this.

While it was nothing like the African dish, it was still very good. My preschooler was not a fan of it and informed me that it was "big people's food" but my husband and I both really liked it! I will definitely make it again.





Crockpot Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Source: www.about.com

3 T. flour
3 T. oil
1/2 lb. smoked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
3/4 to 1 lb. boneless chicken thighs, cut in bite-size pieces
1 1/2 to 2 c. frozen cut okra
1 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped green bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t. ground cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 c. frozen medium shrimp, cleaned and cooked (I left these out.)
1 1/2 c. uncooked regular long-grain white rice
3 c. chicken broth or water

In small saucepan, combine flour and oil; mix well. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring constantly, about 8 to 12 minutes or until mixture turns a light red-brown. Place flour and oil mixture in 3 1/2 to 4-quart crockpot. Stir in all remaining ingredients except shrimp, rice, and broth or water. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours. Add cooked shrimp to the gumbo; mix well. Cover and continue to cook on LOW for 20 minutes longer. Meanwhile, cook rice in the broth or water according to package directions. Serve gumbo over the hot cooked rice.

Serves 6 to 8.