Gumbo recipe for Vic, sure hope I remembered everything (this makes maybe 8 or 10 servings but it is great leftover):
1 chicken or the equivalent of, in cut pieces
1 C oil
1 C sifted flour
celery chopped
couple of onions chopped
1 green pepper chopped (optional)
2 minced cloves of garlic
1/2 C Worcestershire sauce
2 t salt
2 or 3 bay leaves
1/4 t thyme
1/4 t rosemary
(Actually you can season to taste, I hardly ever really measure the spices)
crab meat or sliced smoked sausage or both
2 or 3 pounds of peeled shrimp
hot cooked rice
Cook the chicken in salted water till tender and reserve a couple quarts of the stock.
Remove the meat from bones and cut or tear into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a very large heavy pot, add flour very slowly when oil is hot, stirring constantly as you add it. This makes the roux and it burns easily, but you need to cook it to a darkish brown, nearly black, but not black. Keep stirring.
Add celery, onions, green pepper and garlic to roux and continue cooking over low heat, still stirring constantly until veggies are softened.
Add the chicken stock and chicken, also more water- maybe another quart or so. Stir to mix.
Add W. sauce, salt, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary and simmer for about 3 hours.
Add crab meat or smoked sausage and then shrimp.
Simmer for about 30 minutes longer.
Serve over hot rice.
Some people add tomatoes to the mix, some add okra; my husband never liked either, so I didn't add them.
Usually we sprinkled file' over the gumbo as we served it.
Oh boy, I hope I didn't leave anything out. I had to visualize the whole process and write it down as I thought of it. It isn't pretty and it looks like mud as the roux browns, smells like burnt mud, too, but the end result is an amazing blend of flavors. Some people use different meats, but I make mine from those mentioned above. I usually saved all the shrimp for my bowl
