2006-07-12

From Shear Madnez

Ingredients
1/2 pound lump crab meat
1 chicken cooked and deboned (Save your stock)
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pound cooked and drained good link sausage cut into bite size pieces
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
2 large onions, diced
1/2 cup green pepper, diced
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 clove chopped garlic
1/2 tbsp red pepper
3 quarts water
1 quart Chicken stock from cooked chicken
2 cups okra (frozen is fine, fresh is best)
1 cup chopped green onion tops
1 tbsp file' (optional, very optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

First you make a dark roux with the flour and oil in a large heavy bottomed pot. When oil is hot add flour and stir "constantly" with a whisk until it turns dark brown in color. Be careful not to burn the roux. If it burns, you will have to start over. If you see black spots that look like pepper, start over. It's burned. It takes about 20-30 minutes to make a good roux.

Saute the onion, garlic, pepper, and celery in roux. Add the water, chicken stock and the seasonings and cook for 1/2 hour over medium/low heat.

Add the chicken and sausage and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add shrimp and okra and cook for 10 minutes. Add crabmeat and green onions, and simmer for 10 more minutes. Remove from heat. Allow gumbo to sit on the stove for at least a half hour after it is done. This will let the flavors get to know one another.

Serve over rice. Or, if you're like me, serve over potato salad. Don't ask, just try it.

File' is a thickening agent that you can add to gumbo when it is fully cooked. If you add the file' to the gumbo while it's cooking, it could get real stringy and you'd have a complete mess. Some like it, some don't. I suggest letting everyone season their own
individual serving with the file'.

Salt and pepper are very important to the end results of this dish. Season to your own tastes.

And remember, gumbo is not made the same way by any two people, feel free to add or remove any ingredients that you like or don't like.

You can make a very thick gravy or a very thin gravy. It's all up to you.

**If you add a can of Creole tomatoes, you have what they call "Creole Gumbo".