Seasoning mix: 2 whole bay leaves, 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
¾ cup finely chopped celery
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup vegetable oil
7 cups chicken stock
1 pound andouille sausage, cut into ¼ inch cubes
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Fresh or frozen okra, optional*
Tabasco sauce to taste
Chopped parsley & green onions to garnish
Mix together dry seasonings, prep the vegetables.
Heat stock in a medium saucepan.
The "trinity" of Louisiana cooking consists of bell pepper, onion and celery. When making this dish or any other gumbo there is a lot of chopping!
Please take note of the baby butta hats. They are representing the New Orleans theme!! 
In a Dutch oven, make the roux: Heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Add the flour, whisking constantly until roux turns dark red-brown-darker than peanut butter (very hot, be CAREFUL!!!)
For this dish we made a dark roux. They baby buttas had lots of questions because they had made a roux before with their mac & cheese but this roux was dark! For macaroni and cheese they made a blond roux which is made from butter and flour. A dark roux is made with oil and flour. Which a dark roux you have to constantly stir so the oil doesn't burn. Also, a roux can be a thick as you would like as you can see ours had the consistency of peanut butter.
When the roux is just the right color, turn off heat and add onions, bell pepper, celery and seasoning mix--continue stirring until mixture cools a bit. Add garlic after a few minutes (you don’t want it to burn). Don't taste test during this phase: they are heavily seasoned vegetables - Lauren learned this the hard way!
Gradually add the chicken broth, stirring constantly. Add the sausage, then bring to a simmer. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add deboned chicken and adjust seasoning.
Remove bay leaves and serve immediately over rice. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and green onions.
*If you choose to use okra, coat it lightly with a little vegetable oil and bake on a half-sheet pan in a 400 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes, turning occasionally until it loses its slimy texture. Add to gumbo when you add the sausage.
Some of our baby buttas are new to certain vegetables and okra was no exception! After we baked the okra and added what we needed to the gumbo pot, we put the remaining okra back in the oven and let it get a little more crisp! It was a yummy snack until the gumbo was finished!! Our picky eater LOVED THE OKRA - yay Blanche!!
Mama Butta is headed to New Orleans for the Jazz Fest next week , maybe she will take us one day for a field trip!!
Stay tuned for next week's class!!!
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