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A pleasant city, Sacramento, California was founded at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers. It’s the state capitol and is located almost dead-center — north-to-south, east-to-west — in the state. Lake Tahoe is two hours east and San Francisco two hours west. The California wine country (Sonoma and Napa valleys) are also two hours west and the up-and-coming Lodi wine area is just to the south.

The city’s population is not quite half a million and the metropolitan area is about 1.3 million people. This turns out to be a nice size for a city — big enough to have lots to offer and yet not so big it’s a pain to navigate. (Although rush hour is hell just like everywhere else in California.)

The city itself has an Old Town that’s not outrageously touristy and features an outstanding train museum. The modern city center, positioned where the rivers meet,

is bounded on the two dry sides by early 20th century houses on tree-lined streets. It’s a pleasant area to drive through.

For the first week after moving to Sacramento in the fall of 2001, I lived in a hotel downtown, which meant eating out most evenings. No fool, I. I used the opportunity to check out as many different restaurants as I could and I found my favorite down on K Street: Celestin’s Caribbean Restaurant.

One of the specialties is an assortment of gumbos: seafood, sausage, chicken, or any combination. Spicy and deeply flavored with a dark roux, the gumbos were addictive. Although I never asked, it was clear from eating them that the kitchen kept a big pot of stock simmering on the stove and when you ordered they put some in a smaller pot and tossed in the ingredients you’d requested. That’s the only way to have both chicken and shrimp arrive in the same bowl table perfectly cooked in a full-flavored broth.

The key to good gumbo is the roux and I’ve found the best way to make it is in the oven. I combine equal parts corn oil and flour in a pie plate and set it in a 350F oven. You then cook the roux, stirring occasionally, cooks for 20 to 40 minutes depending on how dark you want the roux. For gumbo I like it to be a dark mahogany color.

Chicken, Andouille, and Shrimp Gumbo

1/4 c corn oil
1/4 c all-purpose flour
2 tbsp corn oil
1 lb chicken — cut into 1″ dice
salt and pepper
1 ea md. onion — diced
1 ea green bell pepper — diced
1 1/2 stalks celery — diced
3 cloves garlic — minced
4 c chicken or seafood stock
1 ea 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp dried oregano
2 ea bay leaves
1/2 lb andouille sausage — cut into 1/4″ slices
1/2 lb peeled shrimp

Make the roux using 1/4 cup corn oil and flour. Set aside.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven and brown chicken in two batches. Set chicken aside, deglaze pot with a few splashes of stock and pour into a bowl.

Wipe out the dutch oven with a paper towel, place over medium heat, and add onion, bell pepper, celery, and roux. Cook, stirring almost constantly, until vegetables soften. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, and herbs. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes. Add chicken and sausage and cook for another 15 minutes or until chicken is tender. Add shrimp and cook another 4 minutes or until shrimp is done.

Serve over rice. Serves 6.

Technorati: Food | recipe | soups | stews | gumbo | New orleans

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