Let Me Introduce Myself

I wanted to introduce myself, food is a very intimate thing for me and you want to know who you are eating and cooking with, right? My name is Chrissie, I am Will's sister in law. I am a chef by trade and own a catering business. My approach to food is keep it simple, no fuss but tasty! We have a 15 month old little girl, so my newest food passion is introducing her to the wonderful world of food and showing her at an early age what taste is all about. Now don't get me wrong, the child eats her fair share of chicken nuggets and hot dogs but we try and sit down to a meal every night and we all eat the same thing!! No substitutions. I am amazed at how adventurous she is. Her newest love is Gumbo?!? Who would have thought.
Enough about my child, this is a food blog. I by no means know everything about food and feel like there is always more to learn, but I am here if you ever have questions.
I use to teach cooking classes and there are two things that I think make a good cook a great cook. A good knife (and knowing how to properly use it) and SALT! Good salt, Kosher is my favorite and don't be afraid to use it.
Here is my recipe for Gumbo, I was given this recipe from a good friend from Homa LA. She didn't give me an exact recipe, and I have just thrown it together all of these years, but I am going to write a recipe for y'all.
GUMBO
1 stick of butter
1 cup flour
1 medium onion diced
1 medium green bell pepper diced
2-3 stalks of celery diced
1 1/2 cups shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken works great)
1 kielbasa sausage
1 cup white rice
8 cups water or chicken stock
Lawry's & Tabasco to taste

The key to an amazing gumbo is the Roux, start with a heavy bottomed pot, a trusty spoon that you feel comfortable with and time to watch the roux become beautiful!! Melt the butter over medium heat whisk in the flour and let the roux begin to brown. This takes some time, so you have to be patient, but don't walk away or you will end up with burnt roux (yuck!) Sir occasionally until the roux becomes the color of chocolate, it will feel like forever but trust me, it is where all of the flavor is. Once you have achieved chocolate color, add all of your diced vegetables and cook for about 10 minutes until they are tender. Add water or stock and whisk until everything is combined well. Add the sausage, cut into bite size pieces, however you like is fine. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 30-45 minutes. I season it towards the end with Lawry's Seasoning Salt & Tabasco to taste. Add 1 cup of dry rice and stir occasionally. The rice will cook in the gumbo. Once the rice is tender, normally about 15 minutes you are ready to eat!!

Chrissie Batts