Seafood Gumbo

This is my Mom and Dad's Seafood Gumbo recipe with minor tweaks on my part (lump crabmeat).  WARNING: you won't be satisfied with seafood gumbo from most restaurants after you eat this Gumbo.  It is labor intensive, so block out several hours, but it is worth it.

Ingredients:

• 2 C. of chopped onions
• 1 C. of chopped bell pepper
• 1 C. of chopped celery
• 6 cloves of mined garlic
• 1 bunch of green onions finely chopped
• ½ C. of fresh parsley finely chopped
• 5 lbs. of peeled shrimp
• 1 lb of lump crabmeat
• 1 lb of smoked sausage cut into semi circles
• 1 pack of Gumbo crabs
• 1 (32oz.) bag of frozen okra
• 2 cans of Rotel
• 4 C. of  chicken stock
• 12 C. of water or shrimp stock
• 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T. of salt
• ½ T. of black pepper
• 1 T. of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• ½ t. cayenne pepper
• 1 C flour
• 1 C vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Make roux with oil and flour in cast iron pot over medium high heat, until the color of dark peanut butter
2. Add onions, bell peppers, and celery and cook until limp
3. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute
4. Add okra and cook for 30 minutes, stir frequently
5. Add Rotel then transfer to a gumbo pot
6. Add chicken stock, water or shrimp stock, sausage, gumbo crabs, salt, pepper, Creole Seasoning, and cayenne
7. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 hours
8. Add Worcestershire, shrimp, crabmeat, green onions, and parsley.  Cook for 10 minutes
9. Serve with rice

Tips and Tricks:

• You can make shrimp stock to use instead of the water.  It is easy!  Follow my link to find out how I make mine.
• If you don’t have a cast iron pot you can make a roux in a heavy bottomed pot instead.  The trick is to stir constantly.  You can NOT multi-task during this step.  This is where the base of flavor for your gumbo comes.  Be diligent, it takes about 20 minutes to make a roux the color you need for gumbo.
• I use Bryan Cajun Smoke Sausage in my gumbos.  It has a soft casing that absorbs some of the gumbo.  Yum!
• This gumbo always tastes better the next day, so make some room in your refrigerator.  The flavors get to “marry” (as 9^th ward Gloria says) as they sit over night.