Mixed Cajun Etouffee

I love Cajun food but don't have a Cajun restaraunt. After trying several types of recipes, this is what I came up with. We thought it came out really well and it has become one of our favorites. Feel free to adjust the amount of heat for your tastes. I find that using a cast iron skillet works best for the browning, but use what you have. Also, this make a big batch (we like leftovers) so cut in half if you need. Make sure to have some crusty bread for "soppin'" up the juice.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 1  lb  peeled deveined  cooked shrimp
• 3  boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1  lb  smoked turkey sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 2⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1  large onion, chopped
• 6  stalks celery, chopped
• 1  green bell pepper, chopped
• 1  red bell pepper, chopped
• 5 -6  garlic cloves, minced
• 3  cups chicken broth
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle dark beer
• 1⁄2 cup  chopped fresh parsley
• 2  teaspoons salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1⁄8 teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon white pepper
• 2  bay leaves
• 1 -2  tablespoon  hot sauce (optional)
•  hot cooked rice

Directions

1. In a large hot skillet, brown the sausage quickly over high heat to seal in juices.
2. Remove to medium size bowl. Go ahead and taste a piece if you want.
3. Add the chicken breasts to the same pan and quickly brown both sides, cooking through. If the breasts are really thick, you may want to slice them in half or pound them so they will cook through without burning the outside.
4. Remove chicken to cutting board to cool.
5. Meanwhile, throw shrimp in pan and give a quick browning (no more than 45-60 seconds).
6. Add browned shrimp to bowl with sausage. The shrimp doesn't tempt me as much as the sausage, but go ahead a sample a piece if you want.
7. Now head back to the chicken. Should be cool enough to handle if you're careful. Either shred into bite size pieces or dice with a sharp knife.
8. Add to the shrimp and sausage.
9. Measure out one cup of beer and set aside.
10. Pour the remaining beer over the meat mixture.
11. Add chopped parsley and combine well.
12. Using the same skillet that you browned your meat in, melt the butter over medium heat, scraping up the browned bits of meat.
13. Whisk in flour a little at a time, stirring continuously until smooth.
14. Continue cooking until roux (flour and butter mixture) is nice and browned, 10-15 minutes. Don't rush it by turning up the heat or you'll burn it.
15. Add onions, celery, peppers and garlic to roux.
16. Cook 4-5 minutes until crisp-tender.
17. Stir in spices and cook another 5-10 minutes.
18. At this point, I transfer to a bigger pot because I don't have a big enough skillet. If you need to do this, heat your bigger pot a few minutes before you add the chicken broth and beer (next step)so it's ready to go. If just using one pot, ignore this step.
19. Add remaining cup of beer and chicken broth to roux/veggie mixture. Add hot sauce if desired.
20. Stir well to combine, cover and simmer 10-15 minutes.
21. Pour meat mixture into pot and combine well.
22. Continue cooking 5-10 minutes longer.
23. Serve with hot rice.