After my Shrove Tuesday post enough people asked me for my gumbo recipe that I thought I’d post it so here it is.
Crab Gumbo
Serves 4
1 cup olive oil
1½ cups flour
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 bell pepper, washed, seeded, ribs removed, diced
2 stalks celery, washed, diced
2 cups fish stock or bottled clam juice
4 cups white wine
4 Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce
4 good dashes bitters
Tabasco to taste
1 lb. crab meat
1 cup minced parsley
8 oz. okra, cleaned, sliced crosswise
1 tsp. gumbo file
Salt and pepper to taste
This begins like all good Cajun recipes from scrambled eggs to gumbo does: make a roux.
- Make a roux by cooking the flour in the olive oil over low-medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook carefully until the roux is chocolate brown.
- Add the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Cook until the vegetables “begin to sweat” i.e. the onion is translucent.
- Mix in the fish stock or clam juice, white wine, Worchestershire sauce, bitters, and tabasco. Bring to the simmer. You may need to thin the gumbo a bit with a little water.
- Add the crab, parsley, okra, and file. I know, I know. Using both okra and file is unorthodox but it does taste good.
- Simmer over low-medium heat, covered, for 40 minutes or until you can’t stand it any more.
- Adjust the seasoning.
- Serve with a scoop of steamed white rice and a sprinkle of file.
