I’ll give you my gumbo recipe. I learned to cook from my mother and grandmother who were born and raised in New Orleans and really knew how to cook. Most of the time, I couldn’t get them to write down their recipes because they used a “pinch” of this and “enough of that” and “two fingers of water” and so on. This recipe is a combination of her two recipes that I have added to over the years. My brother cooks his gumbo a little differently than mine and like all good cooks; he will tell you that his is better.
You need a big pot. I like to use Magnalite brand pans which is what my mom always used for everything. I have cooked gumbo in other types of pots and it still tastes good. The magic of every good Creole dish is the “roux”. This is flour that browns to a rich mahogany color. Many people try to make the roux while cooking the vegetables in the bacon fat. My mom taught me how to brown the flour first and then you can add it as you cook your gumbo. The advantage is that you don’t have to worry about burning all your condiments and you don’t have to watch everything so closely.
I would take a five pound bag of flour and brown it in a flat pan in the oven. This is only good for people who cook a lot and even I don’t cook that much. I take a large nonstick skillet and put in a cup or two of flour and over medium to high heat, slowly brown the flour. I constantly stir the oven with a spoon or spatula and it will brown up pretty nicely in a matter of ten minutes or less. You can get it as golden as you like and if it burns, you haven’t wasted all your seasoning. There are actually a lot of sauce and roux mixes on the market now and they work pretty well as a roux, so you can substitute them if you want. A brand called Tony Chacherie’s is a good option. I buy a large container of gravy mix at Sam’s when I’m feeling lazy. However, this would not meet with the approval of my mother or grandmother.
Here is the recipe and Bon Apetit. creole gumbo
Recipe shared by Edgar M. Dapremont Jr.
1C Celery, chopped 1 large onion, chopped 1 large green bell pepper, chopped 4 tsp. Lime (if you can’t get this, it’ll still make a pretty good gumbo) 2 fingers minced or minced garlic 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup bacon fat 1 lb. Andouille Sausage (a Cajun sausage) – If you can’t get this, use a good smoked sausage 1 tbsp. Sugar 1/8 cc Tabasco 1/2 tsp Tony Chachere seasoning 3 quarts water 6 beef bouillon cubes 4 bay leaves 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 1 can (14 1/2 oz) stewed tomatoes 1 small can tomato sauce 2 (10 oz) frozen sliced okra, thawed 2 tbsp. White vinegar 1 or 2 lbs. lump crab meat 3 lbs. shrimp 2 tbsp. English sauce
ROUX: Add flour to 3/4 cup melted bacon fat in a large, heavy skillet and stir well to combine. Cook this over medium low heat stirring constantly until it turns a dark mahogany brown. This will take 20-30 minutes and must be continually watched and you must continue stirring until finished or the flour will burn.
Alternative method to prepare Roux: I take the flour and brown it over high heat while stirring constantly until golden brown. I make the roux by adding the brown flour to the bacon fat and then just adding the processed vegetables. I use a lot of whole grain flour in sauces and soups, so I always have a large container of whole grain flour on hand. (My mom browns 5 pounds of flour in advance in her oven and then stores it in the freezer for when she needs it. Both methods of making a roux work well, but she just needs to make sure it’s nice and rich.
VEGETABLES: Process onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic in a food processor. Add the sausage and processed ingredients to the roux and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring constantly to sauté the vegetables. Put this aside.
BOIL THE WATER: While preparing the roux and vegetables, bring the 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large Dutch oven or at least a 6-quart Gumbo pot. Add beef broth to boiling water to create beef broth. Combine the roux mixture with the boiling broth and stir. Reduce heat and add bay leaves, thyme, tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, salt, Tony’s seasoning, and Tabasco to boiling mixture. Cook over low heat for 1 hour. At the 45 minute mark, add 2 teaspoons of lime to the gumbo and stir.
OKRA: While the gumbo is cooking, cook the okra in a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of vinegar for about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the fat from the okra and reserve.
CRAB MEAT, SHRIMP, OCRA: After the gumbo has cooked for about 1 hour, add the crab meat, shrimp, okra, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for about 45 minutes more after adding these last ingredients. At the end add 2 more teaspoons of lime.
Serve over rice.
Edgar’s comments: The gumbo can be frozen or refrigerated and many people like it better the next day. Bon Appetite!
