Gumbo

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Course Main Course

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oil See #1 below
1 cup Each coarsely chopped celery, onion, bell peppers
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 pound Andouille sausage, slicecd to nore more than 1/2" thick, or 1cm See #2 below
12 cups Beef stock or broth See #3 below
1 tsp salt, to taste
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp Hot sauce, to taste
1 tsp Cajun seasoning See #4 below
3 whole bay leaves optional
1/2 tsp dried thyme
15 oz can stewed tomatoes See #6 below
6 oz tomato sauce
3-4 tsp Filé powder (sassafras leaves) See #5 below, optional
2 tbsp oil or bacon fat
20 oz Okra, cut into small pieces. Thawed if previously frozen.
1 lb crab meat
3 lbs uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Make the roux: Whisk together flour and oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth.
Cook roux, whisking constantly, until it turns a rich mahogany brown color. This can take 20 to 30 minutes; watch heat carefully and whisk constantly or roux will burn. Remove from heat; continue whisking until mixture stops cooking.
Place celery, onion, green bell pepper, and garlic into the work bowl of a food processor, and pulse until all vegetables are very finely chopped.
Stir vegetables into the roux, and mix in sausage.
Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat, and cook until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Boil the stock in a large Dutch oven or soup pot at medium-high heat.
Whisk roux mixture into the boiling broth.
Reduce heat to a simmer and mix in sugar, salt, hot pepper sauce, Cajun seasoning, bay leaves, thyme, stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce.
Simmer soup over low heat for 1 hour; mix in half of filé gumbo powder at the 45-minute mark.
In a separate pan, heat 2 tbsp oil or bacon fat on medium heat, add the okra and vinegar and cooko for 15 minutes.
Remove the okra with a slotted spoon and stir into the simmering gumbo.
Mix in crabmeat, shrimp, and Worcestershire sauce, and simmer until flavors have blended, 45 more minutes.
Stir in remaining filé powder just before serving.

Notes

#1 Instead of "oil", fat of any kind will work. You can use butter, bacon grease, etc, just be sure that you serve the gumbo warm otherwise you'll end up with something more gelatinous than soupy.

#2 I like chorizo, but any ready-to-eat sausage will work.

#3 Chicken or vegetable also work just fine.

#4 Paprika or Cayenne pepper works fine. Search for my Cajun Spice Mix if you want something more authentic. https://thedailybear.ca/cajun-spice-mix/

#5 Filé powder is a staple in Cajun and Creole dishes, it will thicken up your dish, or you can leave it out as a condiment and let your guests sprinkle it on like pepper.