WHB: My Favorite Meal, Shrimp And Crab File Gumbo

In my family, seafood gumbo is the ultimate dish to prepare and eat. Gumbo is always an event, because it's absolutely delicious, labor intensive, and loaded with familial memories.  Not a complicated dish, it has definite quirks. You must prepare a dark brown, (or black, if you're a gumbo master) roux, which can take an hour or two of constant stirring. And there are the shrimps, massive amounts of them, which require teams of people, peeling and deveining until you feel your sanity start to slip. The kids had the job of peeling shrimp, and I'm convinced that the major reason people have children in my family is to ensure a steady pool of shrimp laborers.  Until my mom died, I never put the gumbo together. I never had that honor.  I just peeled shrimp for hours until I wanted to scream, while my mom and her sisters argued the finer points of sauteeing the vegetables, or the proper color for the roux.  Try peeling 20-40 pounds of shrimp.  The last time my cousins and I did that amount, about 15 years ago, we wound up fighting and throwing shrimp at each other. When I was a child, gumbo was a cheap dish to prepare.  My grandmother would go to the docks and buy shrimp for less than a dollar a pound. And she caught her own beautiful blue crabs.  Now, gumbo is quite pricey to make. I made a pot of it for Thanksgiving and wound up paying almost $200 for the shrimp and crab.  Small wonder that I rarely make it now. 

We eat seafood file gumbo, not okra gumbo. And don't even think about putting sausage in our seafood gumbo!  It overwhelms the sweet shrimp flavor that we work so hard to achieve.  File gumbo is a Cajun dish, whereas Creole gumbo uses okra.  File, (pronounced as fee-lay) the dried leaves of the sassafras tree, is used to flavor and thicken gumbo.  File can be hard to find outside of the Gulf Coast, but Penzeys and Whole Foods are good sources for it.  Each person sprinkles the proper amount of it on their serving of gumbo, just before they eat it.  But, care must be taken not to add too much, or the gumbo will get stringy.  File is actually a spice, but I'm going to treat it as an herb, to submit this recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging.  WHB was founded by the marvelous Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen, and this week WHB is home with Kalyn in Utah.  Stop by her site and see the round-up of herby recipes from around the world. It should be up on Monday.

A very dark roux is essential to a Cajun gumbo.  At the very least, it should be dark brown. And it must not burn.  My mother and grandmother made a roux that was almost black.  Roux can be made very quickly by heating the oil until it's smoking, then adding the flour. My mom did that and could make a dark roux in about 10 minutes.  The term "Cajun Napalm" is often used to describe what it feels like when hot roux splashes on your skin, so I make my roux slowly.  It starts out white.

After an hour, it was dark enough for me.  The dark roux adds a nutty flavor and aroma that plays off the sweet shrimp and crab.  It's marvelous.  Don't think of going to the bathroom or answering the phone while you're making it. Stir, and stir.

When the roux is done, add the Holy Trinity (onions, bell pepper, and celery), garlic and herbs to the roux and saute for a few minutes. The vegetables cool down the roux so it doesn't burn.

Add the veggie mixture to the boiling stock and stir.  Then, cook this for about 45 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  At this point I put the pot of broth into the fridge for two days (which made it better) and added the seafood on Thanksgiving.

Here are some of the shrimp.  This is a pretty small amount compared to what I had to peel when I was a shrimp laborer.  This was added, along with the crab, about 15 minutes before I served it. 

I made 12 quarts of marvelous food for the gods, if I do say so myself.  It was gone after 2 days.  I did share with others--honest.

Shrimp and Crab File Gumbo

  Makes  6-12 Servings  (I tripled this amount)

Note:  Shrimp stock is best, but if you don't have it--use water.  If your peel your own shrimp, save the shells (even better if you have shrimp heads) and cover them with cold water in a large pot. Cook for about 30 minutes, then strain the shells out. I freeze batches of it every time I peel shrimp.

Ingredients

2 cups     chopped onions
1½ cups     chopped green bell peppers
1 cup    chopped celery
2      whole bay leaves
2 teaspoon     salt
½ teaspoon     pepper
½ teaspoon     red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon     thyme
¼ teaspoon     oregano
¾ cup     vegetable oil
¾ cup     flour
1 cup tomato sauce
5-1/2  cups   water or shrimp stock
1 tablespoon     minced garlic
1-1/2 pounds     crabs, bodies and claws
2-3 pounds shrimp; deveined and shelled
(use shells to make stock )
dash of Tabasco
file powder

Put the flour and oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Stir constantly until it turns dark brown. Be very careful not to splash any of the roux on yourself as you cook it.   Do not let the roux burn.  Adjust the heat lower if it looks like it may burn.

When the roux is done, immediately begin adding the chopped vegetables to the roux in the skillet.  Saute For about 6-8 minutes, stirring constantly. 

Have the stock or water ready and hot in a large pot. Bring to a boil and begin adding the roux vegetable mixture to the boiling stock, stirring after each addition.  Add the salt and the tomato sauce.   Note:  If I don't have any shrimp stock and have to use water, I add about 1pound of the shrimp and a can of crab meat and cook it for flavoring the stock. Cook about 1 hour.  Taste to see if it needs more salt.  This base can be refridgrated until you're ready to eat the gumbo.  In fact, it tastes better if it sits for a day or so.

When you're ready to eat the gumbo, bring stock to a boil and add the peeled shrimp and crab.  Cook for about 10 minutes, then turn the heat off and let it sit for a few minutes more.  Serve over hot rice.  Sprinkle file over the top, being careful to add and sample. If you're heavy handed it will make your gumbo too thick.

Comments

[peabody]

Oh look at that bounty of seafood...fantastic.

[Peter]

Sher, you did a great job on getting that roux just right. You have patience!

[Julie]

Sher, great post! First, your mother sounds like a gumbo queen (which I guess would make you a gumbo princess!) and how lucky to have a food tradition in your family like seafood gumbo.

I've tried to make gumbo a few times but I've yet to have real success. I can get to pretty good but not really good -- looking at this I think it's mostly due to not getting the roux dark enough. I'm taking your recipe and trying again.

I notice that your recipe seems to reverse the process for combining the roux and the stock that most recipes use. Is there an advantage to doing it one way over another?

[Lydia]

Oh, where was I when the gumbo was ready??? I've only made gumbo a couple of times, and I know that the roux is the secret. First time, of course, I didn't have the patience to let it get dark enough, and my roux was a sorry mess!

[Kalyn]

Wow, what a gorgeous pot of gumbo you've made. This sounds like the most wonderful dish imaginable. I've had gumbo in New Orleans a few times, and loved it, but I'm betting it wasn't as good as the seafood gumbo you made. And I haven't heard of sprinkling the file over at the end, that sounds intriguing. Great post, and I agree, you are the Gumbo Princess!

[Lannae]

I can see why it is your favorite! It looks so yummy! Did Upsie get any boiled shrimp?

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Gumbo Queen if ever i saw one. How come I wasn't called when this was ready! Sher this is a great photo essay on your gumbo!
I remember my dad bringing shrimp back from the docks in Mobile having paid something like 8 cents a pound for the shirmp! Yes, I know how old that makes me.

[Susan from Food Blogga]

Wow! That's one hunking piece of crab meat! I rarely cook with crab, but this looks so good, I think that will have to change.

[Chris]

This looks SO delicious! We've made gumbos before, but most of them are quick/shortcut methods. We'll have to try this. :)

[Jenn]

I was hoping you'd write about the gumbo! It's looks deeeeelicious!

[gattina]

luckily that time you and your cousins only threw shrimps but not crabs *ouch ouch* to each other :) :)
I have seen a large price range for shrimps, the ones with gooey red stuff inside their big fat heads cost a lot. Must be good stuff for making stock, eh?!
Now I'm wondering, how many of us were licking our pc monitors while reading this post :)

[Katie]

I have never had gumbo. I now have an inkling of what I'm misssing. The roux alone looks wonderful!
What do you do while you stand and stir for an hour?

[Callipygia]

This looks so good and I appreciate sharing the memory with you (shrimp laborer? who knew). I wonder how many people this fed in 2 days if you tripled this recipe 18,36... (gulp)6?

[Tartelette]

Wow!!!! The real thing...man! that looks so good!!!
Happy Birthday! Hope this year is a great one for you!

[Burcu]

Sher, this looks like a lot of work, but soo delicious.

Happy birthday!

[Laurie Constantino]

Happy Birthday! Your photos are gorgeous, and that gumbo is incredible! Is that king crab??

[Helene]

Happy Birthday to you!!
Your recipe and the step by step pictures are amazing. Will have to mark it to have a mouth watering look at it, and of course I´ll try it maybe as a dish at New Year´s Eve. :)

[Lisa]

How I wish I'd been at your place for Thanksgiving! That is gorgeous -- and I love your memories, too...

[Shannon]

I want a bowl of this, right now, please.

[Glenna]

Oh wow! It's beautiful, like a work of art!!

[sher]

Peabody,

I do love a bounty of seafood! :)

Peter,

You sound like a man who knows all about roux! :)

Julie,

Thank you--love being called a Gumbo Princess. :) For me, I have to just be patient when I make the roux. They do sell roux in jars, but I've never tried it. I haven't made gumbo any other way, in adding the roux to the stock. I'll check out the other way!

Lydia,

Yes, it's all about the roux, isn't it? :) I try to be very Zen when I do it!

Kalyn,

Sprinkling the file into each bowl is better than adding it to the gumbo, I think. You always run the risk of making the gumbo stringy, if you add too much. Better to make one bowl a stringy mess, than a large pot of it!

Lannae,

Oh yes, Upsie had quite a few shrimps. But, she likes them raw!

Tanna,

Oh yes, I lived in Mobile years ago, and I went to the docks and bought the shrimp (with the heads still attached) for about 50 cents a pound! Imagine that! Those were the days.

Susan,

This was pretty easy crab--just frozen crab that I threw in the pot. My grandma caught them and had to kill and dismember them, a sight that always scared me as a kid.

Chris,

I hope you do try this. We love it so much.

Jenn,

Thank you! Wish I could share it with you.

Gattina,

Oh You have me wishing I could find those shrimp with the heads on them! That's the way we got our shrimp in lthe South. That yellow fat in the head makes great stock. Sigh. But, they never sell them that way here.

Katie,

First, I tell myself to be calm because I will be stirring a lot. Then I lean against the counter as I stir and watch the TV that's visible in another room. I think I watched a Law & Order Marathon while I was making the roux!

Callipygia,

Well, the gumbo did not last long at all! I gave a lot of it to my cousin, so she could take it home. It was gone after about 2-3 days.

Tartelette,

Thank you! I hope we all have a great year! Looking forward to your baking projects.

Burcu,

Thank you! It was a lot of work--but worth it.

Laurie,

It was snow crab, and really expensive! I was shocked!

Helene,

Thank you. And New Year's Eve would be a great time to make it. Hmmm...maybe I'll make another pot. :):)

Lisa,

Wish you had been here too! :)

Shannon,

Oh no! It's all gone. Hope the weather has improved for you there.

Glenna,

Oh thank you sweetie!

[leosatter]

you make me want to start cooking right now!
LOL!
Maybe you can help me out with something…? I want to order all of my food online from now on because of various reasons, but I don’t know where to go for quality food. I have tried 2 companies so far, Fresh Dining, and and celebrityfoods, but I wanna get others I can try out. Do you know of any? The main thing I’ve ordered so far is steak. I guess you can say, I’m a steak junkie. LOL!!! From what I have found out (from what I have ordered so far) I think I am able to regulate the quality of beef I buy. I hate going to a store and getting that crappy slab of beef that I have to cut down until there is like nothing left. Hahaha!!!! (its so true though) Anyhow, sorry that I made this comment so long. If you can help me out or point me in a direction where I might find more quality foods online, I would greatly appreciate it. Have a good day or night! (depending on when you read this) LOL!!!!

[Christine]

Man oh man is this beautiful! I think I feel a gumbo coming on! Thanks for the tips about how to use the file powder. I've never known how to do that.

[Pamela L. Green]

That's how I make my Gumbo...except I also use orka. I live in Houston, TX and Gumbo is one of my favorite meals. People you have to try this Gumbo receipe, she's knows what she is doing.

Pamela Green September 5th. 2011

[Dee]

Well, this recipe is almost like what I've been making for 30 years but I've been using my own chicken stock. Hmmmm! I've always been told it tastes great but I've never made it with water or shrimp stock. Now I wonder what I've been missing?