Description
This spicy Chicken Sauce Piquant has stewed and browned chicken pieces in a rusty red Cajun country gravy. Serve it over a bed of white rice for an authentic Cajun dish.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Roux
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Sauce Piquant
- 6 chicken thighs (or 2 pounds of your favorite chicken pieces), bone-in, and skin on
- House seasoning or Cajun seasoning
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 3/4 cup chopped celery
- 3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- Cajun seasoning, use your favorite blend
- 2 tablespoons of roux from the above recipe; store the rest in the refrigerator
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup water, more if needed to thin the gravy
- chopped fresh green onion or parsley to garnish, optional
- hot sauce, optional
Instructions
Roux
- Place oil in a medium pot and heat over medium-high heat.
- Add flour to the hot oil and stir until it turns dark brown. Set aside for later.
Sauce Piquant
- Season chicken in a large mixing bowl with house seasoning or Cajun seasoning, set aside.
- Heat oil in a large, heavy pot or large Dutch oven on low to medium heat.
- Add the seasoned chicken to the hot oil and brown to a golden brown on both sides.
- Remove the chicken from the pot, put it back into the large bowl, and set aside, leaving the oil and browned bits at the bottom of the pot.
- Cook the Cajun trinity of vegetables, onion, celery, and green pepper in the hot oil left in the pot from browning the chicken until they are thick and syrupy.
- Stir in the garlic until the fragrance is released, about a minute or two; do not burn the garlic.
- Add the chicken to the cooked vegetables and stir until the chicken is covered with the vegetables.
- Cook and brown the chicken some more on both sides for 10 to 15 minutes over medium heat.
- Add 1 cup of water, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until all the water is cooked out.
- Add 2 cups of water and stir in the roux and the tomato paste until combined.
- Stir in 2 1/2 cups of water and the seasonings, and simmer the stew until the chicken is tender and the sauce is thickened.
- Add more water if the gravy needs thinning.
- Garnish with chopped green onions and/or fresh parsley and serve over hot white rice; sprinkle with hot sauce for a spicier flavor.
Notes
- Move browned chicken thighs toward the side of the pot and add the roux and tomato paste in the center of the pot to stir into the gravy.
- When cooking the vegetables and browning the meat, be careful not to burn or scorch them, this dish needs attention when making the gravy, cooking the vegetables, and browning the meat.
- Allow the chicken sauce piquant to simmer slowly until the chicken is tender and the sauce is thickened.
