Recipe: Appetizing Seafood Gumbo

Seafood Gumbo. Gumbo is one dish that makes Louisiana cuisine so famous. We live across the state line in Texas and can't seem to get enough of this traditional gumbo recipe that features okra, shrimp, spicy seasonings and what is called the holy trinity—onions, green peppers and celery. This recipe calls for seafood, but you could also use chicken, duck or sausage.

For this recipe, we chose to fill the gumbo with heady seafood ingredients such as fresh crabmeat, shrimp, and oysters. Thicken with okra as it simmers, or toss in some filé at the finish. This is a real SEAFOOD gumbo. You can have Seafood Gumbo using 27 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Seafood Gumbo

1. It's of Roux ingredients.
2. You need of bacon drippings.
3. You need of flour.
4. It's of Vegetable mix.
5. Prepare of chopped celery.
6. You need of large green bell pepper.
7. It's of garlic.
8. You need of andouille sausage.
9. Prepare of yellow onion.
10. You need of Gumbo base.
11. You need of water.
12. It's of beef bouillon.
13. Prepare of sugar.
14. It's of Salt.
15. You need of hot pepper sauce (Louisiana hot sauce).
16. You need of Cajon Seasoning.
17. You need of bay leaves.
18. Prepare of dried thyme leaves.
19. It's of can stewed tomatoes.
20. Prepare of can tomato sauce.
21. It's of gumbo file powder.
22. It's of Seafood mix.
23. You need of distilled white vinegar.
24. It's of lump crabmeat.
25. Prepare of uncooked medium shrimp (peeled and deveined).
26. Prepare of Worcester shire sauce.
27. It's of gumbo file powder.

This is the best gumbo I've ever had. The crab boil is the key ingredient - do not omit it. The smell will drive you nuts!!! Taste the gumbo and season if necessary.

Seafood Gumbo instructions

1. Make roux mix by whisking flour and bacon drippings constantly in sauce pan over medium-low heat until rich mahogany color. Remove from heat until it stops cooking. Usually 8-15 minutes..
2. Place celery, onion, green bell pepper, and garlic in food processor on pulse until finely chopped. Mix vegetables and sausage into roux mix and place back over medium-low heat until vegetables are tender. Usually 10-15 minutes..
3. Bring water and beef bouillon to boil in large pot (8 quarts or larger). Whisk the roux mix into boiling water once the cubes disolve. Reduce to simmer then mix in the rest of the base: sugar, salt, hot sauce, Cajon seasoning, bay leaves, thyme, stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer for 1 hour and add the file gumbo powder at the 45 minute mark..
4. Mix in shrimp, crab meat, Worsteshire and white vinegar into gumbo and simmer for another 45 minutes. Mix in file gumbo powder before serving..

Garnish with the parsley and green onions and serve in shallow bowls over white rice. Seafood gumbo, packed with shrimp, oysters, red snapper, and, especially Louisiana blue crab, is a classic South Louisiana dish. Ben Thibodeaux, chef de cuisine of Dickie Brennan's Tableau in Le Petit Theatre, says, "Our warm, fertile waters help our blue crabs get nice and fat, which lends a sweetness to the seafood gumbo. Whether it's crab claws sauteed in browned butter or jumbo lump. Gumbo is a true melting pot dish.