Faux Gumbo

This Dish was a bit of an experiment. I like paella and gumbos and dished similar to that so I thought I would try a faux copy with chicken, plus I found a packet of paella spice I was dieing to try. it turned out very flavorful and the chicken was tender and yummy and the family loved it, that is always a big bonus with a meal.

a package of chicken legs and thighs (how ever many it takes to feed your family)
flour
salt and pepper
oil for browning
1 poblano pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
5 to 10 mushrooms, sliced or chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 to 2 large cans stewed tomatoes with juice
paella packet of seasoning
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper
1.5 cups rice


Wash and dry the chicken. Add flour salt and pepper to a shallow bowl. Heat a large cast iron pan over medium high heat. Once pan is hot add oil. dredge the chicken in the flour and place the chicken in the hot oil (laying away from you). brown the chicken on all sides and remove from pan and set on a plate and set aside. keep the pan on the fire but turn it down to a medium to medium low heat. remove all but 2 tablespoons of the oil.


add into the hot pan the chopped vegetable and cook them covered until they are soft, uncover, turn up the heat a little and saute until there is a little browning on the veggies and add the paste, cook for a few more seconds so that the paste darkens a little.

Return the chicken and all it's juices to the pan and add the tomatoes and seasoning and rice, cover and cook until the rice is done, stirring occasionally. If there is not enough liquid from the tomatoes feel free to add a cup or two of chicken stock, water or even a little white wine.