Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

I don't make this very often, but when I do I can't count on leftovers. There's just something about this smokey, spicey, savory stew that my family can't get enough of. I always make it with a huge batch of sweet corn bread.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

16 tbs flour
1/2 c canola oil
12 oz frozen cut okra, thawed
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, diced
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
8 cups low sodium chicken broth
2-3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cubed
16 oz turkey Polska Kielbasa, quartered and sliced into chunks
8 bay leaves
6-8 cups cooked rice

1. To make roux (sauce base), in a large stock pot stir flour and oil together until smooth. Heat, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat. Continue to cook and stir until roux turns the color of a penny (about 15 minutes).

2. Add garlic, onion, okra, red pepper, and black pepper. Cook 4-6 minutes, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

3. Slowly pour in chicken broth. Increase heat to high. Cook and stir until mixture boils and thickens.

4. Add chicken and sausage. Stir. Bring mixture back to boiling. Stir in bay leaves.

5. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 45 minutes.

6. Remove bay leaves. Serve over rice.

ALTERNATIVE: Seafood gumbo: Cook roux until LIGHT brown (about 10 minutes). Omit chicken. Substitute 2 8-oz cans of lump crab meat, drained, and 8-10 oz of peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp. Add crab with the sausage. Add shrimp the last 10 minutes of cooking.