Tasty Tuesday - Sush's Creole Chicken Etouffee

Sush is one of my dearest followers and one day she mentioned her Creole Chicken Etouffee and guess what? She was so sweet and shared her recipe with me and after trying it I cannot do the same with you!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp canola oil (to brown chicken in)

1/2 stick of butter (to make the roux)

4 - 6 cups unsalted chicken  broth (or water, or veg broth or seafood broth depending on what's available and what ingredients)

1/4 cup white wine

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

2-3 Tbsp flour (for roux; a roux is equal parts of fat and flour)

1 med rough chopped onion (red, yellow or white your choice, I used red, but often use white)

1/2 c chopped fresh parsley

1  bunch chopped green onions including tender green stalks

2 - 3 cloves garlic chopped

2 celery stalks with leaf tops chopped 

1/2 chopped green or red or combination of both sweet green or red bell pepper

2 - 3 bay leaves

juice of half lemon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or dash more if you like spicy (red pepper for heat)

2 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp white pepper (white for bite)

1/2 tsp salt could be a bit more but we cut back on salt around here

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs chopped

In heavy skillet brown chicken in canola oil. Remove chicken from skillet and let drain on paper towels. Add butter to skillet and let melt; scraping the bits of chicken left in pan into butter to deglaze; add flour to melted butter...this should be enough to make butter and flour pasty. This is the roux mix. Cook on low heat, stirring frequently until medium brown in color...pecan colored. Then add in chopped onion, celery, bell pepper cook until vegetable become soft. Add in garlic, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, white wine, parsley, green onions and chicken broth. Stir to make sauce. Sauce should be thick and creamy. So judge the amount of broth accordingly. Can add more in later if sauce gets too thick. Stir in cayenne pepper, white pepper, garlic powder and salt to taste. Add in bay leaves. Add chopped chicken. We have added sausages in with this to have a chicken and sausage etouffee. Use your choice of sausage. We usually use either boudin sausage (a spicy type) or large smoked sausages. You could have shrimp and sausage or crawfish and shrimp or just crawfish...it's all up to what you like and have available!

Cook for about 30 minutes on medium heat. Simmer on low for another 20, covering skillet. Stir every now and then and adjust liquids if needed. Squeeze lemon juice over the pot shortly before serving and stir it in. It brightens the flavors!

Serve over either your choice of rice or pasta...I used linguine for a change.

I made a fresh spinach salad with strawberries, toasted almonds and a strawberry vinaigrette.

• 2 teaspoons strawberry jam
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it so it's not to oily
• Whisk together to blend

Then we had a crusty loaf of wheat french bread heated in the oven.

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