Souptacular Crockpotalooza

One of my favorite things about the cooler weather is making hot soups and stews. I can't tell you how many times during the summer I crave a big pot of homemade vegetable soup or stew, but then squelch the idea with "It's too hot for soup".

Well, not anymore. It's time for gumbo, vegetable soup, beef stew, Irish stew, cheese soup, potato soup...well, the list goes on and on. I wanted to share my recipe for chicken and sausage gumbo because it's a crowd pleaser at my house, and because it's one of those meals that I grew up on. It makes an obscene amount of food so it will easily serve 8-10 people and it is awesome leftover.

A big thanks to Boomama for hosting this event, and for giving us all the opportunity to tuck away a few more cool weather recipes.

CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE GUMBO

1 large fryer, cut in pieces
2 large onions, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 bunch green onion tops
10 oz okra, sliced
1 large can of tomatoes
Salt, pepper, cayenne
1 # sausage, sliced and fried
1/2 cup bacon grease
1/2 cup oil
1 c + flour
About 2 quarts of water

Make a dark roux with oil, bacon grease and flour. Add onions to stop roux from browning and stir until wilted. Salt and pepper chicken pieces and brown in oil. Sauté garlic, bell pepper, and celery in dripping. Add tomatoes, tomato juice, okra and water. Return chicken to pot and add roux. Season to taste. Cook for about an hour. Remove chicken from pot and add sausage and green onion tops. Cook for another 30 minutes. Debone chicken and add to gumbo after about 25 minutes of cooking. Serve over rice.

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