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Créole-Style Chicken Stewed with Andouille Sausage
This dish
has some elements of Louisiana Créole cooking, and some overlaps specifically
with Gumbo. But it contains no okra, which is not liked by one of our recent
dinner guests when I made this, and no roux and therefore no gluten (or tedious
roux preparation).
I ran the
idea for this past a friend from Louisiana who was formerly a chef, and she
approved. So, here is my stewed dish inspired by my somewhat limited knowledge,
though high appreciation, of Créole cooking. I served it with “Dirty Rice” and
Céleri Rémoulade. It went well with a nice Sauvignon Blanc. My friend, the
former Louisiana chef, might have chosen a Grüner Veltliner.
The recipe
serves six. Accompany it with a rice or grits dish, and perhaps a salad.
1 pound
boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 teaspoon
cornstarch
1/2
teaspoon salt for the chicken
1
(14-ounce) smoked Andouille or Cajun sausage
1 medium
onion, coarsely diced (1/4-inch)
1 small
green bell pepper, cored then coarsely diced (1/4-inch)
1 small red
bell pepper, cored then coarsely diced (1/4-inch)
1 large
stalk of celery, split lengthwise then cut in 1/4-inch lengths
2 cloves
garlic, minced
3
medium-large tomatoes, cored then coarsely diced (1/4-inch)
3
tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons
Cajun Seasoning (or 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 tsp garlic salt, 1/4 teaspoon
celery salt + 1/4 teaspoon cayenne)
1 teaspoon
paprika
1/2
teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4
teaspoon cayenne
Salt to
taste for the sauce, starting with 1/4 teaspoon
2 green
onions, green parts cut in 1/4-in lengths, for serving
Trim off
any tough or fatty parts of the chicken and cut the flesh into 3/4-inch cubes.
Mix in a bowl with the salt and cornstarch. Set aside.
With a
chef’s knife, split the sausage lengthwise into halves. Slice the halved
sausage into 1/4-inch lengths. Prepare the onion, peppers, celery, garlic and
tomatoes, setting them out in separate piles on a platter.
In a heavy
pot, fry the onion, peppers, and celery in the olive oil, stirring frequently,
until vegetables are softening. Add minced garlic, stir and fry half a minute.
Add diced tomatoes, and stir as the mixture begins to cook. Add the dry spices,
other than salt.
When vegetable mixture is becoming more moist and the tomato
begins to soften, stir in the sausage. Cook, stirring frequently, until the
vegetables are becoming like a sauce, about 10 minutes. Stir in the prepared
chicken. Cook, stirring very frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan,
until the raw color has gone from the surface of the chicken. Stir in the salt.
Cover the pot and simmer 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste the sauce, and
add salt if needed. Test a piece of chicken for doneness by cutting in half. If
the raw color is gone from the center, bite into one of the halves to see if
it’s done to your taste.
Cool, then reheat to serve. Sprinkle with the sliced green
onion. Accompany with a rice dish or a seasoned grits dish.
