Ready to Cook

There are a couple of ways to do this. You can pre-prepare your ingredients at home or prepare the whole meal in camp. It’s totally up to you. If you are pre-preparing at home, don’t cut your potatoes until you get to camp.

You could set your charcoal briquettes or wood to fire and get your coals ready for the Dutch oven. Or, you could get everything chopped up and ready before setting the fire. It’s up to you.

We’ll be frying our bacon and sautéing our chicken, onions, and garlic first. Set your Dutch oven up for frying. For our 12-inch Dutch oven, we’ll need 24 briquettes or the equivalent in wood embers. 

Later, we’ll be baking the dish. Considering the 12-inch Dutch oven and the baking method, when the time comes, we’ll place 16 briquettes on the top and 8 briquettes on the bottom. 

Learn how to heat a camp cast iron Dutch oven here: https://beerandiron.com/how-to-heat-camp-cast-iron-dutch-oven/ 

This recipe will cook in two parts. You will need a second batch of briquettes when it comes time to cook the top biscuits.

Step 1:  Tenderize 3-4 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. Brine them in a beer/salt brine for about 1 hour then pat dry. You could pre-prepare the chicken at home and carry it to camp in a doubled zipper bag or other container. 

Here’s the link on how to make a beer brine: https://beerandiron.com/2023/02/simple-roasted-chicken (This recipe shows how to brine a whole chicken but the brine recipe is the very same). 

Step 2: Pull out the frozen veggies and let them start warming up to “room” temperature. Or, rather, “the great outdoor’s” temperature.

Step 3: Cut the chicken breast meat into larger bite-sized pieces. Pat dry the chicken breast meat. Place the cut, pat-dried chicken meat into the 1/2 cup of flour and coat the pieces. They will eventually stick together and the flour will be a bit sticky; that’s A-OK. Set the floured chicken aside. 

Step 3: Cut up the onion and the garlic. Set aside.

Step 4: With the cast iron camp Dutch oven over 30-briquettes (or more), render the fat from some of the fatty bacon (cut or not cut). 

Step 5: While the bacon fat is rendering, wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks. Skin on or skin off; it’s up to you. I just leave it on.  You could place the cut potatoes in a bowl of water (optional).

Step 6: Brown the chicken pieces up until they are no longer pink…and just before they are safe to eat. Chicken is considered “done” at 165°F / 74°C. I will cook a bit more when we put this all together. NOTE: Don’t overwhelm your pot with the chicken. Sear/brown in batches. Add more bacon if you need more fat.

Step 7: Once the chicken is browned remove the chicken from the pot and then sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are clear…not so clear as to be able to read newsprint through them, but you get the point. NOTE: If you need more cooking fat, you can add more bacon before adding the onions and garlic.

Step 8: Here’s the easy step: After you’ve sautéed the onions and garlic, return the chicken to the pot. Then, mix in the veggies, evaporated milk, cans of soup, potatoes, poultry seasoning, and Worcestershire Sauce. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Step 9: Mix all the ingredients in the pot all about and smooth out the top. The mixture should not be too runny nor should it “set” like pudding either. If the mixture is too thick (more than likely), add some of the reserved beer.

NOTE: We’re not creating soup. And, the ingredients in the pot all have moisture to some degree. We want it thick but not too thick.

Step 10: Bring the mixture to a bubbling boil. Don’t let it stick to the bottom. If it’s sticking, add some beer to thin it out. Once the mixture is bubbling, set the camp Dutch oven to bake.

If your briquettes have burned down too much, you will need to use a fresh batch.

Place 16 briquettes on the top of the oven and 8 under the oven and let the mixture cook until the potatoes are soft and taste done (careful on sampling those potatoes…they are HOT!). 

Step 11: While the mixture is heating up to a “bubble,” prepare the dry ingredients for the biscuits. Mix together in a bowl: 

• 2 Cups of All Purpose White Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Salt

Blend all these ingredients together. Then, cut in the butter with the pastry cutter. You want a cornmeal consistency. 

Don’t add the buttermilk (or other liquids) yet. Store the dry biscuit ingredients in a cold place (like the ice chest) for now. 

Step 12: Once the potatoes are cooked (and the chicken is at least 165°F / 74°C), prepare the biscuits.

Note: How do your briquettes look? Do you need to start another set?

Biscuit Steps

A word on the biscuits. Homemade biscuits are my preference. However, a can of biscuits will work perfectly in this recipe. It’s up to you.

Biscuit Step 1: Add the buttermilk (or other liquid) to the dry biscuit ingredients. 

Biscuit Step 2: Using the rubber / silicone spatula, mix the biscuit ingredients until you have a sticky dough mixture. 

Biscuit Step 3: Remove the dough and set on a floured surface. Don’t knead the dough. Just flatten the dough and then fold over a few times. Dust with flour if it’s too sticky. Coat with a bit of flour so the dough does not stick to the surface nor your hands. 

You’ll want to flatten the dough a bit thinner than you would if you were making morning biscuits. We want these biscuits to be a bit thinner than normal. 

Biscuit Step 4: Cut the biscuits with a biscuit cutter. You could form them with your hands or cut them with a knife. No worries. Cutting with a biscuit cutter gives the best results. And, they all don’t have to be round either. Cut them “any which way but loose.” They may have half-moon shapes and that’s okay. We’ll piece these together in a bit.

Biscuit Step 5: Place the cut biscuits on the top of the cooked pot pie mixture. Just puzzle them in. If you run out of room, just shove the last one or two in sideways.

Biscuit Step 6: Scramble the raw egg. Using the basting brush, “paint” the top of the biscuits with the raw egg.

Return the lid to the pot.

Step 13: The hot pot pie mixture is our biscuit’s “bottom heat.” We need to heat the top of the Dutch oven. Place any of the remaining briquettes from the bottom of the Dutch oven to the top of the Dutch oven. Add the equivalent of about 20 briquettes to the top and let the biscuits bake. 

Step 14: After about 10 minutes, check on the biscuits. How do they look? Turn the lid 1/3rd turn. Let the biscuits cook until they are nice and golden brown. 

NOTE: If they look like they are done but are not browning up, add more briquettes to the top of the oven. 

Once the biscuits have brown up nicely, your meal is ready to eat!!

Ready to Cook

Let’s Get Detailed:

Step 1: Brine and Roast a Whole Chicken. 

Mamma used to boil her chicken and then use the liquid as the stock for the gumbo. We ain’t going to do that (sorry mamma). We’re going to roast that chicken and then use the deboned and roughly cut meat in our gumbo. 

First, we are going to brine the chicken for a few days before we create our Gumbo. Then we are going to roast that chicken. Here’s the neat part: you can roast the chicken a day or so before you make your gumbo. It’s all good. 

And, if you have a hunkerin’ for some gumbo and haven’t any brined, roasted chicken…then you can bypass the brining and just roast a chicken. Another quick fix are those rotisserie chickens down at the market. They will work in a pinch.

I have an article on brining chicken (and meats in general). Very detailed and yet to-the-point:

Hot Brine Method: https://beerandiron.com/basic-beer-brine-recipe

Cold Brine Method: https://beerandiron.com/how-to-beer-brine-whole-chicken

How to Roast a Whole Chicken: https://beerandiron.com/simple-roasted-chicken

Step 2: Debone that chicken and have it at the ready.

After you have roasted your chicken, let it cool to a point where you ain’t gonna be hollering “Sam Hill!” when you grab ahold of those hot parts of that chicken. Then, cut the chicken meat up into larger, mouth-sized portions.

Step 3: Cut everything up and measure everything out. Have it at the ready.

Cut up the onion and mince the garlic. Keep these two in one bowl. In another bowl, store your prepared celery, bell pepper, and the tomatoes.

Also, slice up the Andouille Sausage in to round medallions. If you don’t have andouille sausage, you can experiment with other sausages. Andouille is preferred but your gumbo will be delicious with other sausages.

Measure your oil and flour for your Roux. Measure the filé and thyme and have it ready.

Step 4: Sear the Andouille Sausage Medallions. 

In a 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven over medium to medium high heat, sear (brown) your andouille sausage. Andouille is pretty fat self-sufficient; we often don’t add any oil to the pan. But, if your andouille is looking sorta on the slim side, add a bit of oil or bacon grease to the bottom of that Dutch oven. No worries.

Once all the medallions are browned/seared on both sides, remove them from the pot and set aside. 

You can substitute other sausages if you can’t find any andouille sausage. Again, no worries.

Step 5: Make a Roux.

I said there was only one rule earlier…I told a fib…there’s two. You really can’t have a gumbo without a roux. Well you can; many early, pre-World War II gumbos were created without roux. Here’s a VERY COOL link to a 1922 cookbook called The Picayune Creole Cookbook. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL6643212M/The_Picayune_Creole_cook_book. (Let me know if the link isn’t working).

Using a separate, small skillet, over medium high heat, create your roux to a red / dark roux. 

Here’s how to make a roux: https://beerandiron.com/roux 

The dark or red roux created here really won’t add to the thickness of the gumbo…this roux is for FLAVOR! We create the roux in a separate pan and add it later and we add a lot less roux to our gumbo recipe than other recipes. 

Step 6: Sauté the onions and garlic.

One of the reasons we add the roux to the pot later is because of this step.

We’ve seared/browned our andouille sausage medallions and the pan will have all that andouille sausage fat and bits and pieces of that andouille sausage in the bottom of that pan. The onions and garlic (we add them together) will aid in deglazing and pull that flavor right off the bottom of that pot.

We wait to add the roux. The roux would have to be created before putting the other ingredients…at least after the sausage searing step…and onions do not sear well in roux…not at all. That’s my experience.

Step 7: Toss in the bell peppers, celery, tomatoes, and sausage.

Once the onions are a bit translucent, toss in the chopped bell pepper, diced celery, and cut up tomatoes. Sauté all this for just a bit. Not long, just a bit.

Turn the heat down to low or medium low as we add the rest of the ingredients.

NOTE: if you want to add okra to the pot, now’s the time.

Step 8: Add the Roux.

If your roux has been sitting for a bit, it may have started to separate. Mix it back to a nice and creamy consistency and add the roux to the pot. 

Mix everything up real good and level things off in that pot. We want them level because we are going to add the liquid to the pot just to the level of the ingredients and don’t want anything piled up too high.

Step 9: Add the beer and broth…one or the other or both.

Add about 12-16 ounces of beer to the pot just up to the level of the ingredients in the pot. If the liquid is not up to where you want it to be, add some broth, more beer, or even water to get it up to the level.

Use a mild lager or low IBU (International Bitterness Unit) beer. Basically, less-bitter the better. Avoid flavored beers and sours.

There is this Jalapeño beer…an IPA…in Baker City Oregon at Barley Browns that I am going to growler up the next time I pass through that beautiful town…I have been wanting to try that beer with its mild spiciness with this recipe. 

You can add just beer alone if you like, but we often will have created a beer bone broth to add to our soups, stews, chilis…and GUMBO! Here’s how to make a beer bone broth: https://beerandiron.com/beer-and-chicken-bone-broth

Broth from a box or can will work too. 

Step 10: Get it all up to a Simmer.

Turn the heat back up to medium and give everything a good stirring up. Put the lid on the pot and bring the gumbo up to a simmer.

Step 11: Add the filé and the thyme.

Once things are simmering, add the filé, thyme, and any other spices you want to add. Then stir everything up very well.

Some folks add the filé after the cook and at the table for a filé flavor. The thickening agent in this gumbo recipe IS the filé. Ain’t no body got no time for no soup-thin gumbo; we need a thick, stew-like consistency with some body to it.

Okra is a thickener and often used along with filé in the gumbo.

A note on the sliminess:

Filé and okra are considered thickeners. But filé and okra do not thicken the same way as flour or cornstarch. Not at all.

The one thing to make note of when adding okra or filé or both to this recipe: watch for the “thickness that runs kind of ‘stringy-like’ (stringy…spin or spun) when scooped with a spoon and allowed to drip back into the bowl.” Folks, when I say, “stringy-like” what I am actually referring to is the “sliminess.” Yes, your gumbo can be too thin and soup-like…and there is gumbo that is too stringy or slimy. If this is a concern, then cut the 3 tablespoons of filé down to two. Make note of your filé (and okra if you are adding) amount and adjust on future gumbo cooks.

If the texture is not to your liking but you love the flavor of filé, then cut the filé powder during the cook and garnish your gumbo with some dry filé at the table.

Adding some spicy for a bit of zing is A-OK. I like spicy but not too spicy. We usually don’t add hot stuff in the pot; we add it at the table. Here are two ingredients that will give your gumbo a pleasant kick:

(Affiliate)

Tabasco Brand Pepper Sauce: https://amzn.to/3JL4FTH 

Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning from Louisiana: https://amzn.to/3ZRnxpN 

Step 12: Check for Saltiness and Add Salt if Needed.

There are so many things that can influence the saltiness of this gumbo…the brined chicken meat, the beer, the broth, and just the natural salt hints that exist in many ingredients. 

Use a spoon to gather some of the broth and just broth. Sample the liquid. Is it salty to the point you like salty to taste? Yeah? Then you’re done with all the ingredients. 

If not, then add salt to the pot and stir it in very well. Return the pot to a simmer and wait a few minutes before checking again (no less than 5 and a bit more is A-OK). 

If we check it right away, the initial salt we added hasn’t blended yet. Give it time to become part of the gumbo then sample again.

Want to know more about salting: https://beerandiron.com/salt-to-taste 

By the way, now’s a good time to put some rice on in a separate pot. Don’t cook the rice in with the gumbo. Cook the rice in a separate pot to add to the gumbo later.

Step 13: After a bit of Simmering, Check the Saltiness Again.

Check the salt again. If it’s where you need it to be then great! If not, add a reserved amount (no more than 1 teaspoon or less at a time). Then, wait a bit and check again.

Then, Bon appétit! 

Once the pot has thickened up (this will not take long), then check the bell peppers and celery. Are they done to the doneness you like? Then you are ready to eat. 

Enjoy this gumbo over or under a bit of rice…rice is the way to go…trust me. We like to use a large spoon and scoop out a bit of rice and pop it on the top of our gumbo.

Garnish as you like.

If you are adding shrimp to the gumbo, it’s always a good idea to add it at the end of the cook and let the gumbo “cook” the shrimp. Some folks add whole shrimp for some flavor, and that’s perfect but add whole shrimp in earlier in the cook; whole shrimp takes longer to cook than peeled shrimp tails. Peeled shrimp tails are added right as you turn the heat off. Mix the shrimp in the hot gumbo and let the hot gumbo cook the shrimp. Do this towards the end and once the shrimp is done, your gumbo is done.

Note: Shrimp is optional. If you do add shrimp to your gumbo, only had a small handful; adding too much shrimp to your hot gumbo will cool it down too much and the shrimp will not fully cook.

If you are adding any seafood or other ingredients, then cook until all the ingredients are cooked to a safe temperature.