I’ll give you my gumbo recipe. I learned to cook from my mother and grandmother who were born and raised in New Orleans and really knew how to cook. Most of the time, I couldn’t get them to write their recipes because they used a “pinch” of this and “enough of that” and “two fingers of water” and so on. This recipe is a combination of her two recipes that I have added to over the years. My brother cooks his gumbo a little differently than mine and like all good cooks; he will tell you that his is better.

You need a big pot. I like to use Magnalite pots, which is what my mom always used for everything. I have cooked gumbo in other types of pots and it still tastes good. The magic of every good Creole dish is the “roux”. This is flour that browns to a rich mahogany color. Many people try to make the roux while cooking the vegetables in the bacon fat. My mom taught me to brown the flour first and then you can add it in as you cook your gumbo. The advantage is that you don’t have to worry about burning all your seasonings and you don’t have to keep an eye on everything as closely.

I would take a five pound bag of flour and brown it in a flat pan in the oven. This is only good for people who cook a lot and even I don’t cook that much. I take a large Teflon skillet and put in a cup or two of flour and over medium high heat, slowly brown the flour. I constantly stir in the oven with a spoon or spatula and it will brown quite nicely in a matter of ten minutes or less. You can get it as golden as you want and if it burns, you haven’t wasted all your seasoning. There are actually a lot of roux and sauce mixes on the market now and they work quite well as a roux so you can substitute if you like. A brand called Tony Chacherie’s is a good option. I buy a large container of sauce mix at Sam’s when I’m feeling lazy. However, this would not meet with the approval of my mother or my grandmother.

Here is the recipe and Bon Apetit. creole gumbo

Recipe shared by Edgar M. Dapremont Jr.

1C Celery, chopped 1 large onion, chopped 1 large green bell pepper, chopped 4 tsp. lime (if you can’t get this, it will still make a very good gumbo) 2 fingers of garlic minced or minced 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup bacon fat 1 lb. Andouille Sausage (a Cajun sausage) – If you can’t get this, use a good smoked sausage 1 tbsp. Sugar 1/8 cc Tabasco 1/2 teaspoon Tony Chachere seasoning 3 quarts water 6 beef bouillon cubes 4 bay leaves 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 1 (14 1/2 oz) can stewed tomatoes 1 small can tomato sauce 2 (10 oz) frozen cut okra, thawed 2 tbsp. White vinegar 1 or 2 pounds. chunk crab meat 3 lbs. shrimp 2 tbsp. English sauce

ROUX: Add flour to 3/4 cup of the melted bacon fat in a large heavy skillet and stir well to combine. Cook this over medium low heat stirring constantly until deep mahogany brown. This will take 20-30 minutes and needs to be watched continuously and you need to keep stirring until done or the flour will burn.

Alternate Roux Method: I take the flour and brown it over high heat while stirring constantly until golden brown. I make the roux by adding the brown flour to the bacon fat and then just add the processed vegetables. I use whole wheat flour a lot in sauces and soups, so I always have a large container of whole wheat flour available. (My mom browns 5 pounds of flour in advance in her oven and then stores it in the freezer for when she needs it. Both methods of making a roux work well, but she just has to make sure it’s nice and rich.

VEGETABLES: Process onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic in a food processor. Add the sausage and processed ingredients to the roux and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring constantly to sauté the vegetables. Set this aside.

BOIL THE WATER: While preparing the roux and vegetables, bring the 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large Dutch oven or at least 6 quart Gumbo pot. Add beef broth to boiling water to create a beef broth. Combine the roux mixture with the boiling broth and stir. Reduce heat to low and add bay leaves, thyme, tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, salt, Tony Seasoning, and Tabasco to the boiling mixture. Cook over low heat for 1 hour. At the 45 minute mark, add 2 teaspoons of the lime to the gumbo and stir.

OKRA: While the gumbo is cooking, cook the okra in a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of vinegar for about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the fat from the okra and reserve.

CRAB MEAT, SHRIMP, OCRA: After the gumbo has cooked for about 1 hour, add the crab meat, shrimp, okra, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for about 45 more minutes after adding these last few ingredients. At the end add 2 more teaspoons of lime.

Serve over rice.

Edgar’s Comments: Gumbo can be frozen or refrigerated and many people like it better the next day. Bon Appetite!