6/18/2018 – Made gumbo on the two-burner propane stove on the carport as we were staying in the TT while the house was being remodeled. Somewhat followed the recipe in Poppy Tooker’s Tujaques’ cookbook for Chicken Creole on page 113 of our personalized copy. Despite a lot of improvising it turned out good and made us realize the true simplicity of creole cooking despite what appears to be complex recipes.

Rough chopped:
3 stalks of celery
1 medium yellow onion
1 bell pepper

Heated two large Roux spoonfuls of bacon grease and one count of canola oil in a SS 4-quart pot. Cut into large cubes four chicken thighs and 1 link of Savior’s Andouille Sausage and 1 link of pork sausage cut into 1/4″ thick coins. Browned the meat in batches with the sausage last. Removed the meat and added the veggies to saute until the edges looked softened but the bell pepper was largely still its normal shiny green.

Added 24 oz. HEB’s “Spicy Red Pepper Pasta Sauce” as that is what we had.  Stirred it in and added:
2 bay leaves;
Heavy shaking of Kit’s Creole Seasoning. (about a rounded tablespoon)

Stirred to blend and carmelize the veggies for about 5 minutes.

Stirred in about 1 pint of store-bought chicken broth.

Simmered for about 30 minutes then tasted and added more creole seasoning. Probably equivalent to a rounded tablespoon.

Simmered for another 30 minutes then turned off burner and let sit for about an hour in the 88-degree carport where it did not cool off that much.

Conclusion – It tasted good as the Italian past sauce tone was overshadowed by the creole seasoning. But, the tomato sauce still seemed too thick and certainly thicker than it would have been with fresh or crushed tomatoes. Will try again and follow Poppy’s recipe more closely when in a full kitchen.