Ultimate Gulf Coast Gumbo

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Description

Gumbo filled with shrimp, crab, chicken, sausage, vegetables, and Cajun spices. I’ve also included crab and/or scallops in this recipe. Serve over rice, accompanied with garlic bread. Also have salt, red pepper flakes, and additional file powder on the table. Great with cold beer.

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds medium shrimp – peeled and deveined
  • ½ cup corn oil
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 (3 pound) whole chicken
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 5 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
  • 5 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning TM
  • 1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 3 (6 ounce) cans crab meat, drained
  • 1 pound andouille sausage, diced
  • 2 tablespoons file powder

Instructions

  1. Peel and devein shrimp. Place shrimp into a bowl; cover and refrigerate until needed. Place shrimp heads and shells into a large pot.
  2. Pour 2 quarts water into the pot
  3. cover
  4. and simmer over medium-low heat until liquid is reduced by half. Strain out and discard shrimp heads and shells. Reserve shrimp broth.
  5. Heat oil in a very large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add flour; cook and stir with a long-handled spoon until dark brown and flour puffs and starts to absorb oil
  6. 3 to 4 minutes. Slowly stir in chicken broth and 1 cup water. Place chicken into the pot; add tomatoes
  7. onions
  8. celery
  9. bell pepper
  10. garlic
  11. seafood seasoning
  12. salt
  13. cayenne pepper
  14. and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and cook until chicken is no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear
  15. about 1 1/2 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh
  16. near the bone
  17. should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
  18. Remove chicken from the pot and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove and discard bones; chop meat into 1-inch pieces.
  19. Return chopped chicken to the pot
  20. along with reserved shrimp broth
  21. crab meat
  22. sausage
  23. shrimp
  24. and filé powder; stir from the bottom of the pot to combine. Bring to a boil
  25. then immediately remove from the heat.
  26. Stir gumbo from the bottom for 1 minute. Remove bay leaves and serve.

Prep Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Cook Time: 2 hrs 20 mins

Total Time: 3 hrs 50 mins

Servings: 20

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