I am going to give you my Creole 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, you could not get them to write down their recipes because they used a 'pinch' of this and 'just enough of that' and 'two fingers of water,' and so on. This recipe is a combination of both of their recipes which I have added to over the years. Serve over hot cooked rice. The gumbo can be frozen or refrigerated and many people like it better the next day. Bon appetit!
Ingredients
- all-purpose flour: 1 cup
- bacon drippings: 0.75 cup
- celery: 1 cup (coarsely chopped)
- onion: 1 piece (chopped)
- green bell pepper: 1 piece (chopped)
- garlic: 2 clove (minced)
- andouille sausage: 1 pound (sliced)
- quarts water: 3 piece
- cubes beef bouillon: 6 piece
- white sugar: 1 Tbsp
- salt: (to taste)
- hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco®): 2 Tbsp (to taste)
- Cajun seasoning blend (such as Tony Chachere's®): 0.5 tsp (to taste)
- bay leaves: 4 piece
- thyme leaves: 0.5 tsp (dried)
- stewed tomatoes: 1 can (14.5 ounce can)
- tomato sauce: 1 can (6 ounce can)
- file powder: 4 tsp (divided)
- bacon drippings: 2 Tbsp
- frozen cut okra: 2 packages (10 ounce packages, thawed)
- distilled white vinegar: 2 Tbsp
- lump crabmeat: 1 pound
- uncooked medium shrimp: 3 pound (peeled and deveined)
- Worcestershire sauce: 2 Tbsp
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Gather all ingredients. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Make the roux: Whisk together flour and 3/4 cup bacon drippings 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. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Make the gumbo: 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.
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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. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Combine water and beef bouillon cubes in a large Dutch oven or soup pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir until bouillon cubes dissolve, then whisk roux mixture into the boiling water.
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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 2 teaspoons of file gumbo powder at the 45-minute mark.
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Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons bacon drippings in a skillet over medium heat. Add okra and vinegar and cook for 15 minutes; remove okra with a slotted spoon, and stir into the simmering gumbo.
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Mix in crabmeat, shrimp, and Worcestershire sauce, and simmer until flavors have blended, 45 more minutes. Stir in 2 more teaspoons of file gumbo powder just before serving. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Serve hot and enjoy! DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS
