With my parents staying with us, I recently prepared a Cajun inspired meal. The highlight of the meal was this Cajun Chicken & Sausage Gumbo. My friends haven’t had gumbo before so I was especially anxious to make this for them. This is my go-to recipe for gumbo but I must say that this time around it came out even better than when I initially made it back in 2009 (please forgive the pic!)…
I don’t know why I don’t cook this more often. It’s comforting and so, so good! The key to this is patience. I felt like it took forever for the roux to turn the perfect color brown before I could move forward with the recipe. But after making this dish several times over the years, ensuring the roux is dark enough is critical. The dark roux imparts such a deep flavor that really makes the dish. If the roux is too light, you’ll miss out!
In your Instant Pot:
Press SAUTE and add oil. When hot, whisk in flour. Continue whisking until the roux has cooked to the color of a deep roasted, melted peanut butter, 8 to 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn the roux. If you see black specks in the mixture, start over.
Stir onion, bell pepper, celery, sausage and garlic into the roux; cook 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning; blend thoroughly.
Pour in the chicken broth, add chicken and bay leaf.
Secure the lid of the IP and ensure the valve is set to SEALING.
Press MANUAL and adjust the time to 20 minutes on HIGH pressure.
Once at pressure, the display will reflect 20 (the number of minutes you initially set) and will begin to countdown to 0 minutes.
When the display reflects L0:05 (which is 5 minutes since the IP has beeped), turn the setting on top of your IP to VENTING. Doing so allows the IP to quickly release any remaining pressure (also known as QPR or QR). I use a wooden spoon to carefully turn the setting to avoid close contact with the potential steam. You may also want to turn your IP away from cabinets to allow the released steam to escape freely. The pin at the top of your IP will drop when all pressure has been released and it’s safe to open.
Spoon over rice and serve hot.
I just thought I would let you know that when I open mine and let it vent out that I use a hand towel to lay over the vent to help it so it don't spray every where when it vents the pressure out.