I'm not sure if this is gumbo, jambalaya or just soup

[Rootbeer]

One of the Eastern influences that made it this far West is Garlic Sausage. I get this at a local meat market. They sell it in a spiral and I have cooked it straight on the grill but the garlic flavor is so strong it's not great as a standalone meat even if it's paired with a mild starch like mashed potatoes.

This is the first time I have used this sausage in this dish. Anyone needing to flame me for not using anduille go right ahead.



Fried sliced sausage in butter and coated it in 2tbs cajun spice mix. Also added diced chicken but forgot to take a pic. Pulled the meat and put veggies in the pot.



2 large onions, 3 red bell peppers, 1 bunch celery, 4 cloves garlic. After veggies were crisp-tender, added 3 qts chicken broth, 1tbs gumbo filé, 2tsp beef better than bullion, another tbs of cajun spice mix to taste, and 2 cups rice.



Low simmer for 30min, stirring occasionally.

Final verdict: really, really good, even if I don't know what to call it.

[Mikey]

Looks pretty tasty.

Speaking of soup...

When the pandemic hit and we were all expecting the total breakdown of society I went out and stocked up on a lot of bulk beans, Pinto, kidney, navy, cannellini, and a few others. Got pretty good at making some hearty and healthy (though sometimes gaseous) soups. I could make a huge pot and have enough for dinner for two for five or six nights (I'd freeze them in one meal containers).

Probably my favorite starts with soaking and cooking the beans (about three cups dried, sometimes two or three types) in a separate pot. Use a little olive oil, dried onion flakes and a bay leaf or two when cooking the beans, probably about an hour. Sauté onions, carrots, celery, garlic, maybe some leeks and/or shallots - whatever's available - in a heavy Dutch oven. Once sauteed, add some canned tomatoes. Bring it to a simmer and then dump in a large smoked ham shank. Add enough water to almost cover the ham shank and simmer for about an hour, until you can easily remove the shank and pull the meat off the bone. Chop up the meat into small bite sized pieces and add back to the pot. Add the beans to the mixture with enough of their broth to create the density you want (soup or stew?). Cook for another 20 minutes or so to get it to where the beans are starting to thicken the mixture. I usually also add a chopped up bunch of Lacinato kale when I dump the beans in. Sometimes some mushrooms or chopped cabbage get added as well, Just about any vegetable you have in the fridge can go in at the end as well. Cauliflower, broccoli, green beans have all shown up one or more times.

You hardly need to add any salt to this, except maybe a little to the beans while they're cooking. The ham shank leaves plenty of salt in the final product.

[kcdave]

No roux, and you have cooked the rice in the mix= definitely NOT gumbo.
With the amount of liquid used, I would not consider it to be jambalaya either.
I would call in Cajun Soup. As long as it tastes good though, nothing else matters.

[Donnie Baker's Ghost]

Got any buttered saltines? I'd eat it.

[mvscal]

I would call in Cajun Soup.

Definitely soup.

[Python]

That’s…uhhh…definitely something.

[Rootbeer]

Day 3 of leftovers. It's really good.