Seafood Gumbo

Serves 6-8

This is a thick gumbo, meant to be served on a plate with rice. If a "soup" gumbo is desired, decrease the veggies to 1/2 cup each and increase the stock to 6 cups. If making then freezing part of this recipe do not add any frozen ingredients until ready to serve.  If using frozen shrimp/scallops/okra, thaw gumbo base, add frozen ingredients proportionally to number of servings and cook until gumbo is hot and seafood cooked.

Place the following ingredients in a soup pot, bring to a boil and simmer until all the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes:

1 c diced sweet red pepper
1 c diced green pepper
1 c diced white onion
1 c diced celery
1 T minced garlic
4 c chicken stock


Add:

1 T gumbo file

2 bay leaves
1 t thyme
~2 t Tabasco (very subjective, use more for spicier gumbo, less for milder)
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice
1 15 oz can black beans, pureed (I puree myself*)
1 pound fresh okra (or one package frozen okra - IF using frozen okra add after the 10 minute simmer), cut in ¾ inch   rounds.

Simmer for 10 minutes then add:

NOTE: As in the photos above, I often omit the scallops and increase the shrimp to  5-6  per person.

(Frozen okra, if used instead of fresh)
1 cooked chicken breast, boned skinned and diced
1 spicy sausage, preferably Andouille, diced, sautéed and drained of fat
18 large (21-25 count) raw shrimp
12 sea scallops (if large, slice in half, lengthwise)

Simmer for another 10 minutes or until seafood is cooked.

MEANWHILE cook

2 c brown basmati rice

Pack rice in a small ramekin or similarly shaped dish invert ramekin and release rice in the center individual rimmed plate or pasta bowl. Arrange individual serving of gumbo in a “moat” around the rice.

* January 2016:  I used to use a food processor for this, but now find it is much easier to use an immersion blender.










Reviewed 6/20/2017