Go ahead fellow citizens of the boot, hate away, but I've heard nothing but the occasional clink of the bowl and a quiet inquiry about second servings after I've served this to some of my favorite people. If you want this to be primo perfect flavor, you'll want to set aside at least 8 hours total to prep proper and really be set up for success.
For the record: all of these are approximate measurements! Feel free to tweak this after the first make, and please be sure to tell me about every time you do! This can definitely be better but I know for a fact this is a great place to start.
This is usually done best the night before so you're not completely over cooking by the time you actually start prepping.
Take chicken and lightly coat with cajun seasoning (Tony's, Slap ya Mama, something like that.) Cover/Ziplock chicken and put in fridge for later. Slice the andouille into small circles and also set aside. Cube all the vegetables and dice the jalapeno and set aside. I probably should have told you that this is what the 3 bowls are for first.
In a heavy stock pot, heat a small portion of the olive oil to medium-high heat. Cook the sausage and one clove of garlic in this oil and take the sausage out, leaving just the oil and what the sausage left behind. Add the rest of the oil and bring to heat. Slowly add the flour, constantly stirring to evenly spread the flour throughout the oil. Constant stirring is very, very, VERY important, or you will burn your roux! Continue to stir for approx 10-20 mins depending on the heat/thickness of the pot, monitoring color and making sure the flour doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. During this process, turn the heat down as you stir until you get to a medium heat.
All the while you're cooking the roux, you should be watching it like a hawk. This is about the color that the roux should be:
IMPORTANT!
I was told very shortly after making this, potentially ruining the first gumbo made off of this recipe that the color could display incorrectly depending on devices. Very, very cursed, I know. I suggest turning your phone brightness up to 100% and start with a slight shade lighter than what you see, just for safety. The good thing is, you'll know for sure if you burned it.
For what it's worth, if you go slightly past (and I mean slightly) this color, it is okay, but you will really be pushing it. You're dancing with devilish temptation that could put you about a half hour to hour and a half behind. Your nose will tell you very quickly if you tripped during this dance. I highly suggest finding a YouTube video on roux specifically - I like this one personally. I differ in her method in that I just use the stockpot straight up (which is stainless) and just use a wooden spatula or spoon to stir. The important bits are there though: her color is on point, she keeps it moving constantly, and her technique is great too.
Turn heat down to medium-low heat and add onion, celery, 1 diced clove of garlic and bell pepper medley to the cooked roux. Stir vegetables and make sure they are completely covered with roux and let cook for a few minutes.
If you don't want to do the chicken searing part, no sweat. You can just throw the chicken straight in or just carve up your typical rotisserie chicken from your local grocery and toss that in there. I suggest simple seasonings; lemon pepper didn't really work out too well in a pinch one time. It kind of worked, but the lemon tang didn't really compliment anything.
While these are cooking, get a pan hot enough to sear the chicken breasts/thighs. A well-oiled cast iron skillet works well for this. This is also optional, but might as well go all out if you can. Sear each side for about a minute and a half and then place in the pot.
Finally, add the chicken stock, sausage, and diced jalapeno. Stir this together, adding about a quart of water to the mixture. Bring all of this to a nice rolling boil. If you have that glass of white wine, now is the time to toss that in (and I mean a typical, 6oz pour. Get that bottle-sized glass outta here.). Shortly after it gets rolling, simmer for at least 3 hours, can be as long as 5 or 6.
Finely chop the parsley and cut the green onions into small little ringlets. Add the parsley and green onion to the simmering gumbo for the final touch and let cook for another 30-45 minutes. This would also be a great time add the file if you have it and to start some rice to go with this gumbo.
If you'd like to serve this fancy, I suggest getting a soup bowl and a smaller round bowl that would fit in the middle of the soup bowl. Pack the rice into the smaller bowl and flip upside down onto the soup bowl. Remove the smaller bowl to reveal a little rice dome similar to what you'd find in a fancy restaurant down here. Ladle some gumbo around the fancy rice dome and top the rice with a small leaf of parsley for garnish.
Any leftovers will guaranteed taste better the next day, so if you really wanna be "that guy," you can just do all of this and then throw the pot in the fridge after it's cooled and bring it back to a boil while the rice cooks the next day. Some restaurants down here only serve the "next day" gumbo for that reason. However, this should prove to be flavorful enough if you're pinched for time. If you want to be real extra, you can same day cool it in an ice bath like in that video from earlier.
Not super about the meats here? No worries! I've made a vegetarian/vegan version of this that worked out well. You double the bell pepper, replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock, add a purple onion in long strips and keep the white onion diced, and use kale chunks as a substitute. I took a page out of the Disney gumbo and also use quinoa as a substitute for rice to add some nuttiness. Which, by the way don't even waste your time with the Disney gumbo. I could be angry about many things about that gumbo, like the lack of a proper roux or the tomatoes, but most importantly, a crockpot has no place making a gumbo. Also, meat alternatives don't really work out super well either since you end up cooking them down over a very long time, so go for variety/leafy and be sure to add any leafy things the same time you would the green onion and parsley.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you have any questions, just drop me a line and don't be afraid to try again with a roux if you think you burned it.