Mamas Gumbo Recipes

MAMA'S SEAFOOD GUMBO

Steps:

• Fry okra in oil for 30-45 minute.
• Add onions and celery and cook until soft.
• Stir in tomato sauce, parsley, bay leaf, thyme and water. Simmer 30 minute.
• Add shrimp, crabmeat and oysters. Simmer another 30 minute.
• NOTE: This is better if cooked in the morning and allowed to stand. Serve over rice.

MA HARPER'S CREOLE GUMBO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place flour in a baking pan and bake, watching and stirring occasionally until flour is a nutty brown color. Sift to remove the lumps of flour.
• Saute chicken in oil in a large pot. Add sausage and cook until it begins to change color. Add onions, bell pepper and garlic and let cook until onion is clear. Add crabs and let cook until the crabs have changed color. Add thyme, cayenne, celery, bay leaves, green onions and flour and let mixture cook 5 minutes. Add stock and season with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Cook for 45 minutes over medium heat, then stir in parsley. Serve over rice. Add gumbo file to each serving.

MAMA'S GUMBO

Steps:

• 1. I recommend having all your ingredients out and pre-chopped. Makes it very quick and easy to get through the preparations steps. ( In this photo I made a 1.5 batch-serves 18. Don't let the large amounts scare you.)
• 2. For roux: Start with a large soup pot. Combine flour and oil with wooden spoon til smooth. Adjust amounts of flour/oil for texture. Stir constantly over med heat until roux cooks to color of a penny. Smells like popcorn. 15 mins or so.
• 3. Stir in Onion, celery, green pepper, garlic, pepper and cayenne. Cook over med 3 mins.
• 4. Add sausage. Cook another 3 mins.
• 5. Stir in broth. Add half the okra, the chicken and bay leaves. Bring to boiling, reduce to simmer for 15 mins.
• 6. Add remainder of okra. (The first half was a thickener and the second half gives more chunky texture.) Simmer for 10-15 mins til last okra is crisp-tender.
• 7. Add raw shrimp. Simmer 5 mins. (If using cooked shrimp, remove finished gumbo from heat. Stir cooked shrimp into gumbo to heat through.)
• 8. Salt gumbo to taste. Ladle gumbo into soup bowls over hot cooked rice.