Ingredients

  • 1/2 to 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • One 4- to 4 1/2-pound chicken, cut up and at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 pound spicy andouille or chorizo sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
  • 1/4 pound tasso ham, with or without spicy rind, or plain cooked ham, diced
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 3 celery stalks, diced
  • 6 or 7 scallions, green and white portions, sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 2 large bay leaves
  • 1 1/2 to 2 quarts water
  • Salt, to taste
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • Cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce, to taste
  • 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons file powder
  • 2 cups cooked white rice

Method

  • Heat 1/2 cup oil in a heavy 5-quart pot or Dutch oven and brown chicken on all sides over moderate heat, turning so pieces brown evenly.
  • Remove chicken and set aside.
  • Make a roux by blending flour into the remaining oil in the same pot and stirring constantly over moderate heat until roux is a deep coffee brown, adding a little more oil if mixture is dry.
  • Add sausage slices, diced ham, onion, green pepper, and celery.
  • Saute, stirring, for about 10 minutes.
  • Add browned chicken pieces, scallions, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, and water to cover, stirring to incorporate the roux into the liquid.
  • Add salt and black pepper and simmer soup, partly covered, for about 1 hour or until chicken is tender.
  • Remove chicken, trim off skin and bones, and return chicken in large pieces to the soup.
  • If you are using the very spicy rind of the tasso ham, you will probably not need cayenne or Tabasco.
  • Otherwise, add either toward the end of cooking and adjust other seasonings.
  • This soup can be prepared in advance up to this point and stored, covered, in the refrigerator for 2 days.
  • Bring soup to a simmer.
  • Five minutes before serving, remove from heat and stir in file powder.
  • Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes, but do not simmer or the file will make the soup too thick.
  • (If you prepare more of this gumbo than you need for one meal, remove the portion to be served and add a proportionate amount of file to that.
  • It is better not to boil soup once the file has been added.)
  • Ladle into wide soup plates with a mound of rice and pieces of chicken.