Gumbo For The Soul

To me, Gumbo is the ultimate comfort food. This food warms you from within, so it's perfect for a cold winter night. Tonight, I'm feeling a little home sick, so I decided to try my hand at my mom's Gumbo recipe. Not to tut my own horn, but my Gumbo came out great! Check out my pictures.

Hungraciously Yours,

MiMi J

This recipe is designed as a quick and easy Gumbo that can even been made during the weeks. From start to finish the total cook and prep time should be no longer than 2 hours. The key thing to make this Gumbo taste like it took 5 hours to cook is a good roux and flavor boosters. They key to making it in under two hours is team work.

Ingredients:

2 (32oz) cartons of chicken broth (flavor booster)

1 satchel of crab boil (flavor booster)

3 tsp gumbo file powder (flavor booster)

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup bacon drippings 

¼ cup of butter

1 cup coarsely chopped celery

1 onion, coarsely chopped

1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb quality sausage, sliced

2 quarts water

1 tlb white sugar

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 tsp hot pepper sauce

1 tsp Cajun seasoning blend (add more to taste)

4 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves and cayenne pepper

1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes

1 whole cooked roasted chicken

2 lbs dressed blue crabs

3 lbs uncooked medium shrimp,peeled and deveined

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1.  Take the meat off the chicken and set it aside but keep you larger bone. Place the chicken broth, the reserved bones from the chicken, the bay leaves, thyme and the crab boil in a large stock pot and allow to boil on high while you prepare the other ingredients.

2. Make a roux by whisking the flour and 3/4 cup bacon drippings together in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat to form a smooth mixture. Cook the roux, whisking constantly, until it turns a rich mahogany brown color. This can take 20 to 30 minutes; watch it carefully and whisk constantly or roux will burn. If you see it getting to hot or cooking too fast remove the lift the pan for awhile while continuing to whisk. Remove from heat, add a pinch of salt and pepper; continue whisking until mixture stops cooking.

3. While you are working on the roux, have your gumbo partner do the following steps. Chop the celery, onion, green bell pepper, and garlic. Place the butter in a heated pot and allow it to melt. Place your veggies in the pot cook until softened. Place the sliced sausage in a heated skillet and allow to brown on each side. Once the sausage and veggies are done add them to your roux along with a half a cup of the soup liquid and mix well.

4. Remove the chicken bones from the stock pot. Mix in the sugar, salt, hot pepper sauce, Cajun seasoning and stewed tomatoes; stir well. Add your roux mixture and allow the soup simmer low heat for 45 minutes.

5. Mix in crab, shrimp, and Worcestershire sauce, and simmer until flavors have blended, 15 minutes. Just before serving, stir in the cooked chicken meat and 3 more teaspoons of file gumbo powder. Serve with rice and enjoy. *NOTE; It taste even better on day 2*