This certainly is not the simplest of all dishes out there to make. There is an extensive ingredients list and quite a few steps involved to get it just right. That’s really the only way that you can make an authentic New Orleans gumbo though! So roll up your sleeves and get ready to spend some quality time in the kitchen. It’s worth it when this traditional meal is complete!
Check out what they are saying about this recipe over at All Recipes:
“My family’s favorite gumbo. It’s fabulous over rice, but if you add two or three cups of water you’ve got the best thick soup type gumbo you’ll ever taste.”
This gumbo truly is the best I’ve ever tasted. I like to serve it with cornbread when it’s a bit thinner to soak up all the juices!
Ingredients
1 cup Gold Medal all-purpose flour
3/4 cup bacon drippings
1 cup coarsely chopped celery
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
3 quarts water
6 cubes beef bouillon
1 tablespoon Domino white sugar
salt to taste
2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco), or to taste
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning blend (such as Tony Chachere’s), or to taste
4 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can Hunt’s tomato sauce
2 teaspoons gumbo file powder
2 tablespoons bacon drippings
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen cut okra, thawed
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 pound lump crab meat
3 pounds uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons gumbo file powder
Instructions
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 heat carefully and whisk constantly or roux will burn. Remove from heat; continue whisking until mixture stops cooking.
Place the celery, onion, green bell pepper, and garlic into the work bowl of a food processor, and pulse until the vegetables are very finely chopped.
Stir the vegetables into the roux, and mix in the sausage. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat, and cook until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
Bring the water and beef bouillon cubes to a boil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Stir until the bouillon cubes dissolve, and whisk the roux mixture into the boiling water.
Reduce heat to a simmer, and mix in the sugar, salt, hot pepper sauce, Cajun seasoning, bay leaves, thyme, stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce.
Simmer the soup over low heat for 1 hour; mix in 2 teaspoons of file gumbo powder at the 45-minute mark.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings in a skillet, and cook the okra with vinegar over medium heat for 15 minutes; remove okra with slotted spoon, and stir into the simmering gumbo.
Mix in crabmeat, shrimp, and Worcestershire sauce, and simmer until flavors have blended, 45 more minutes. Just before serving, stir in 2 more teaspoons of file gumbo powder.
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Quick Tip: Play around with the kinds of meat you use to suit your own tastes.
Thanks again to All Recipes for this authentic recipe.