Seafood Gumbo

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 (14 1/2 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, undrained, chopped (can add more if you like more tomatoes) or 4 (14 1/2 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes (can add more if you like more tomatoes)
• 3 onions, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 bunches green onions, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 4 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 4 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 6 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon celery seed
• 1 tablespoon celery salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons old bay seasoning
• 1 tablespoon tony chachere's creole seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 bay leaves
• 40 ounces sliced okra (frozen or fresh)
• 1 lb crabmeat or 1 lb crab claws
• 4 lbs shrimp, peeled

Recipe

• 1 heat the vegetable oil in a very large soup pot, gradually whisk in flour with a long handled whisk. continue to stir and whisk constantly until the roux reaches a dark chocolate color, being careful not to burn. in south louisiana, you can purchase roux premade in a jar, and i frequently use that, but i never use the "roux mix" that you can purchase.
• 2 at this time add the 4 cans tomatoes chopped with the juice. continue to stir and whisk another 10 minutes.
• 3 add the vegetables and cook another 20 minutes stirring very frequently.
• 4 dissolve bouillon cubes in 2 to 4 quarts of water. add this to the pot and bring to a boil. add seasonings. and okra and simmer 20 minutes.
• 5 add shrimp and crab. cook until shrimp are done. add fresh green onion tops at end of cooking. serve over rice.
• 6 i frequently substitue crawfish tails for some of the shrimp. i prefer to use crab claws rather than crab meat in the gumbo. you can also add some andouille sausage if you want that.