Yes, it has been a very long time since I have blogged. I can't really think what I was doing in the last month that prevented me writing, but it was clearly very important. As an apology, I will give you the recipe for my slow cooker gumbo which turned out awesome.
Yum yum yum!
The family is slowly adjusting to life in the countryside. We dealt with a surprise snow storm yesterday that, even more surprisingly, is mostly gone today. The playroom is slowly getting brighter and brighter as the layer of snowfall that blocked the light from the slides off an crashes to the ground in the slightly alarming ice-sheets.
Winter is GOING, please?
The decoration is still not done, but we are settling into routines. Cleaners are nearly twice as expensive here as in London, so rather than pay someone almost £20 an hour I have been cleaning my own house. Shocking, I know. However much I used to complain about cleaning the house BC (before children), it was a doddle compared to my labours now, especially since Itsyboo feels compelled to mount the vacuum cleaner and ride it like a tiny cowboy any time I try to clean the floors.
A fabulous new butcher has opened on the Tonbridge high street, alleviating some of my longing for Lordship Lane's amenities. It was from this shop that I got the key ingredients for my awesome gumbo. Are you ready for the recipe now?
Slow cooker chicken and sausage gumbo
6 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed (preferably free-range, organic)
4 tbs flour
4 tbs sunflower oil
packet of smoked sausage
medium onion, chopped
medium green bell pepper, chopped
two ribs celery, chopped
250g okra, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
400g tin tomatoes
500ml chicken stock
90 g brown shrimp (optional)
Preheat the oven to 200C. Pop your chicken thighs in for 30 mins.
Combine the flour and cooking oil in a small pan over a med low heat to make the roux. Cook, stirring constantly, until the roux is the colour of a pecan or a hazelnut (thanks to my actual Cajun friends for the reference!). Set aside.
Slice the sausage in 1cm rounds and brown.
Put the roux, sausage, onion, pepper, celery, okra, garlic and tomatoes in the slow cooker and stir well. Add the chicken thighs, nestling in to the vegetable mix. Pour chicken stock over the contents of the slow cooker. Add seasoning to taste - I didn't use any salt since I was serving this to the kids for lunch and the sausage gives it a moderate amount of seasoning.
Cover and cook on low 12 hours or overnight.
Remove chicken thighs and shred the meat, discarding the bones. Return the meat to the slow cooker and add brown shrimp if using. Give the contents of the slow cooker a good stir. Cook on low for another hour to heat through or until you are ready to eat (I let it go another three hours). The vegetables should be collapsing, the chicken and sausage meltingly tender. If not, let it cook a little longer.
Serve with long grain rice and a salad for a delicious meal.
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