I *wanted* to make a sausage-and-chicken gumbo, and have rice with it.
Instead...well, read on:

Right off the bat, I realized that this wasn't going to be a normal gumbo,
because I didn't have any andouille. Or Cajun hot links. Or smoked sausage
of ANY kind. What I had was hot Italian sausage, and a hankering for gumbo.

I started with a mise en place, but not the *normal* gumbo mise en place:
Generally, you make a roux, then add the "trinity" of chopped onions,
celery, and green pepper. My "trinity" turned into a Gang of Four when I
added a chopped fennel bulb to the other chopped veggies, then set the
chopped stuff aside.

I sautéed some skin-on chicken thighs in a bit of olive oil until they
started to get crisp, about five minutes on each side over medium-high heat.
Then I took them out of the pan and added the Italian sausage, which I
cooked until it was partially browned. I took the sausage out of the pan
and lowered the heat to medium low, then I sprinkled some flour into the
combined fats to make a roux. I cooked and stirred until the roux was pretty
dark, then added the vegetables and returned the sausage as well. I stirred
and cooked for a while until the vegetables were fairly well softened, then
slowly added some chicken stock while *still* stirring constantly. I only
had about a pint of stock, so when that ran out, I added a can of stewed
tomato chunks, and since that *still* wasn't enough liquid, I used about a
pint of Clamato. (Hmmm...maybe it was more, looking at how much Clamato is
left in the bottle.) While the pot was simmering, I took a break from
stirring to cut the chicken meat off the bones and add it to the pot. (It
was nowhere near fully cooked.) I saved the skin for a snack later. (I know
this sounds extremely odd, but I've got a Chinese recipe for a
cucumber-and-chicken-skin salad. Those wacky Chinese!)

Since the cauldron needed to simmer a while, I made white rice in my rice
cooker. Then I added some filé powder and minced garlic to the pot and let
the "gumbo-Italiano" simmer until the rice cooker said the rice was done.

It turned out quite nicely: The fennel and Italian sausage harmonized well
with the filé powder, and the chicken and Clamato provided a surprisingly
flavorful supporting combination, while the roux and other vegetables made
it seem like the gumbo I wanted it to be. I'd thought about adding a bay
leaf or cayenne during cooking, but I'm glad I didn't; I think the bay leaf
would have clashed with the other flavors, and it turned out pretty spicy
from the sausage anyway.

Bob