Big Easy Gumbo

Our second shot at gumbo on this blog was a more traditional style with a roux, shrimp, chicken, sausage, the whole works.  My mom wanted to do this recipe for her monthly book club party, in honor of January's book, "A Confederacy of Dunces."  For those of you who don't know, the book takes place in th 60's in New Orleans, making the connection to the gumbo.  The ladies of the book club enjoyed this gumbo and so did we.  Easy to make, very nicely balanced in flavor between the shrimp and the sausage.  I think we preferred this over the gumbo z'herbes, but both are very tasty.  Surprisingly we felt this was a bit lighter as well even though there is more meat.  All in all, a great January meal.

• 1/2  cup  peanut oil
• 1/2  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1  cup  chopped sweet onion
• 1  cup  chopped green bell pepper
• 1  cup  chopped celery
• 2  teaspoons  Creole seasoning
• 2  teaspoons  minced garlic
• 3  14-oz. cans low-sodium chicken broth
• 4  cups  shredded cooked chicken
• 1/2  pound  andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 1/2  cups  frozen black-eyed peas, thawed
• 1  pound  peeled, large raw shrimp
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; gradually whisk in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, 5 to 7 minutes or until flour is chocolate colored. (Do not burn mixture.)
  Reduce heat to medium. Stir in onion and next 4 ingredients, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Gradually stir in chicken broth; add chicken and next 2 ingredients. Increase heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes. Add shrimp, and cook 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.