Recipe of the Week: Chicken and Oyster Gumbo

It's been cold and gloomy for much of this week. I haven't left the house much because I'm still recovering from a bout of bronchitis. It seems to me that most everyone is on high germ alert this season, so I've decided to self-quarantine and wait out the nasty feelings of not being a 100%. Zach has been so patient and nice to me. He's made dinner every night. And every night, he's made something new and interesting. On Tuesday, Zach made me some chicken and oyster gumbo, a recipe he got from chef Susan Goss' West Town Tavern: Contemporary Comfort Food book. We are huge fans of West Town Tavern and always made it a point to go there for dinner whenever we were in Chicago. We were so bummed when it went out of business. Luckily we still have a piece of it in the form of this recipe book. The last time we ate there, Susan autographed my book for me!

Zach made some changes to the original recipe, mostly to accommodate the fact that I don't eat shrimp. He also swopped the turkey for chicken, and left out the hot sauce because we don't have that stuff at home. We used some homegrown hot pepper flakes instead!

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup flour
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1.5 cups celery, chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1.5 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
1.5 tbsp paprika
6 cups turkey stock
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dried chili pepper flakes
2 cups sliced okra
3 cups diced roasted chicken
1 lb shucked oysters

Directions
In a 6 qt stockpot over medium hear, whisk together oil and flour to make a roux. Turn heat to medium low and continue whisking while roux slowly browns. Regulate heat to keep the roux cooking slowly without scorching until roux is the color of peanut butter, about 10 minutes.
Add garlic, onion, celery, bell pepper, and spices to roux. Stir well.
Pour in the stock over medium high heat and bring to a boil, stirring.
Add Worcestershire sauce, okra, and chicken. Lower the heat to low and simmer until gumbo starts to thicken slightly, about 20-30 minutes.
Add oysters, turn off heat and cover the gumbo. Let the oysters poach for 5 more minutes.
Serve gumbo with rice.


p.s. If you'd like a good recipe for cornbread, try ours here!