In the south everybody has some sort of seafood gumbo recipe. As a younger man I use to go down in the back woods right on the beach of Lake Pontchartrain. There is Cajun and Creole communities back there right out of a pirates of the carribean movie. Lots of moos hanging of the trees, fire flies buzzing back and forth and pitched blackness. The only light was from the torches people would put out and the party was on.
There was at least 10 different kinds of gumbo recipe dishes out there. We would sit down and at these long picnic tables the people would set out and grub all night. Sometime I would be back there til the some came up. Memories...light the corners of my mind. Oh, sorry I had a Barbara Streisand flash back.
Let's make some gumbo!
- 3/4 cup of dark oven roux*
- 1 cup of chopped onion
- 1 cup of chopped celery
- 1/2 cup of chopped green bell pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1 (15 ounce) can of stewed tomatoes, with liquid, chopped up
- 1 to 2 teaspoons of Cajun seasoning or to taste
- 1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning
- 2 quarts of shrimp stock, chicken stock/broth or water
- 1/2 tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil
- 1/2 pound of smoked sausage, andouille or ham, chopped (optional)
- 2 cups sliced okra
- 2 pounds of medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 dozen oysters, undrained
- 1 pound of lump crab meat, picked through for any shell
- Hot sauce
Warm the roux over medium high heat in a large heavy bottom pot, stirring constantly. I use my cast iron dutch oven. Add the onion, celery and green pepper to the hot roux, cooking and stirring for about 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic and remove the pot from the heat.
Chop the tomatoes, reserving the liquid. I use a pair of kitchen shears to chop them up right in the can. Add the tomatoes to roux mixture and return pot to heat. Add the Cajun seasoning and Old Bay. Bring to a boil, and stir in the shrimp stock, chicken broth or water; return to a boil, reduce heat to just under medium, and let simmer covered for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the canola oil to a separate skillet, and heat over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain. To that same skillet, add the okra; cook and stir until slightly browned. Using a slotted spoon, transfer from the skillet to the gumbo pot. Add the sausage and cover the pot; continue simmering.
Add the shrimp to the gumbo pot. Cover the pot and continue simmering, about 10 minutes. Add the oysters; simmer another 5 minutes. Pick through the crab meat checking for any remnants of shells; gently stir the crab meat into the gumbo, until just heated through.
Serve over hot cooked rice and sprinkle individual bowls with gumbo filé, if desired. Pass a bottle of Tabasco for some extra kick and add some hot, buttered French bread or rolls and a side salad.
Cook's Notes: Gumbo is a dish that only improves with advance preparation, so make it ahead of time if possible. The flavors really need time to settle and mellow. It's always better the next day. Prepare, let cool and skim any accumulated oil off the top before storing. If you don't already have an oven roux made, just combine 3/4 cup each canola oil and all purpose flour and cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until roux reaches a deep, dark color.
Gumbo filé, or filé powder, is a seasoning made from ground sassafras leaves and tastes a bit like savory and thyme mixed together. It is often stirred into the gumbo recipe at the end of cooking (but never boiled) to act as a thickener when okra is out of season. Besides thickening it also imparts a unique flavor to the gumbo, so even when using okra I like to sprinkle a little into each serving bowl. Do not add it to the pot if you don’t expect to finish off the gumbo as it does not reheat well and will become stringy.
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