Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

What’s your favorite recipe?

You might as well ask me who’s my favorite child!

Seriously, I cook every day, and of course I have my favorites. My favorites depend on the season. There are things I love making when it is cold out like Carbonnade Flamande, which is the famous Flemish beef stew we ate regularly during our two years in Belgium.

During football season if the New Orleans Saints happen to be playing on a channel we can get, my husband always asks for chili, which I make with ground turkey and dark red kidney beans. (Don’t come at me, I’m not from Texas, and this is the way we like it!) To go along with the chili, we often have wings, and again, this is not to everyone’s taste but it is what works for us. The best wings I ever ate were made by my friend’s mom, Donna. When I asked her how she made them, she said she tosses them in a splash of olive oil and a copious amount of Lawry’s Lemon Pepper. Then she baked them in the oven, but I use my Cuisinart Air Fryer/Toaster Oven combo that we purchased during the Pandemic. They are simply delicious!

During the summer, we love to grill a bunch of meats and eat them all week with baked beans, pasta salad, roasted corn on the cob, and watermelon. I marinate flank steak, Italian sausages, chicken breasts, and country ribs in the same bowl with a simple marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Lea & Perrin (IYKYK), soy sauce, salt, freshly ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried rosemary.

For special occasions, I love doing an English tea. I absolutely love if my daughters are all home and we do all the preparations together. Cucumber tea sandwiches and ham and cheese tea sandwiches, served on thickly sliced white bread lightly buttered. Scones are required, of course, and I am still on the hunt for the perfect recipe. I’ve made dozens of different recipes, some with egg, some without. Until I find the one that is perfect to me, I will stick with my cousin Anna’s scone recipe, which she taught me way back in the early 90s. The secret is not to handle the dough too much! Then, there must be a sweet, some small decadent pastry, which changes at our whim. We love making everything from scratch and getting out all my best serving pieces and china.

My favorite meal if I am worn out, down in the dumps, not feeling well, or just had some bad news, is something my husband can acquire in a flash. A fresh baguette, French butter (salted), aged Irish cheddar (white cheddar if possible), and a glass of ice cold Pinot Grigio. Follow that by a cup of English breakfast tea and I am well on my way to feeling much better.

None of this answers the question, though. What is my favorite recipe? Well, as I am 50% Cajun, and grew up with this dinner time staple, my favorite recipe to make is Gumbo. There are as many different kinds of Gumbo as there are Cajuns, but this is my recipe, made easier by the use of a rotisserie chicken. So here it is! Bon Appetit!

Michelle’s Rotisserie Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Serves a crowd!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored and coarsely chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 bunch of green onions, green and white parts, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• Meat (dark and white) from one whole rotisserie chicken 
• 1 pound cooked smoked sausage, sliced into 1-inch disks
• 3 quarts chicken stock or water
• 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2-3 tsp of Lea & Perrin
• 2 to 3 cups cooked long-grain rice, warmed
• 1 bunch of parsley (Italian flat-leaf if possible), finely chopped
• Filé powder (optional)

Directions for proteins:

• Debone the chicken and discard skin, bones, and gristly bits
• In a large skillet over medium-low heat, heat the smoked sausage to remove excess fat. Drain on paper towels, and set aside with chicken meat. 

Gumbo:

• First you make a roux.
  • In a large heavy saucepan over medium to medium-low heat, whisk together the oil and flour and cook, stirring constantly with whisk or wooden spoon, to make as dark a roux as you can without burning it. (The heat can be higher, but you must stir more assiduously to avoid burning it.) Be careful! A hot roux is as hot as caramel!
• When the roux is medium-dark, reduce the heat to low and add the onion, bell pepper, green onions, garlic, and celery. Cook them in the roux until the onions are clear and have begun to brown a little, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent burning. (The smell of this is heavenly!)
• Slowly add the chicken stock, stirring constantly to avoid lumps forming from the roux. Add the chicken meat and sliced sausage to the pot, along with the salt, pepper, hot pepper sauce, bay leaves, Lea & Perrin sauce, and thyme. 
• Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately reduce to low. Cook uncovered on low for about an hour. While it’s simmering, occasionally skim fat and foamy material from the surface. 
• Reduce heat to low and simmer the gumbo, stirring occasionally, for 1 to 2 hours (it improves with time).
• Remove and discard the bay leaves. 
• Check seasonings and adjust to taste. 
• Just before serving, add chopped parsley. Stir well and serve.
• To serve, put about 1/2 cup of fluffy cooked white rice in individual bowls and top with about 1 cup of the gumbo. Sprinkle with filé powder and additional Tabasco, if desired.

Serve with sliced baguette, potato salad, and cold beer!