To us, this is the quintessential New Orleans dish. Gumbo is easy to prepare in advance and to serve a crowd, but making the roux can take some time. We used John Besh’s tips to reduce your roux stirring time by half.

1 cup of avocado oil
1 cup of flour
3 cups diced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups of diced red pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
12 oz of light beer
7 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 pounds smoked sausage, such as andouille
1 pound frozen sliced okra, thawed
2 cups seeded and diced tomatoes
3 cups of pulled chicken breast
Sliced green onions
5 cups of cooked rice

Add oil to a heavy bottomed sauté pan and heat until very hot. Add the flour and whisk it into the oil. It will sizzle and fizz. Lower the flame to medium low and continue whisking for about 15 minutes until roux is a milk chocolate color. If you feel it’s cooking too fast, lower the heat to low.

Add onions and stir constantly until they are caramelized and the roux is a dark chocolate color, about five more minutes. Add the pepper and onion and sauté another three minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaves and thyme and cook two more minutes. Add the beer, stirring to scrape brown bits from bottom of pan.

Transfer the roux mixture to a large Dutch oven or stock pot over medium high heat. Add the chicken stock, salt, pepper and cayenne and bring the mixture to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the gumbo is simmering, slice the sausage lengthwise and then crosswise into half-inch thick slices. Place cut sausage in a large skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage has rendered its fat and has browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a paper towel lined plate.

Add sausage, okra and tomato to the gumbo and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the chicken and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Taste, adding more salt or pepper if needed. Discard the bay leaves. Ladle the gumbo into warm soup bowls and top with cooked rice. Sprinkle with green onions.