Shrimp and Crab Gumbo

1) Dice up your veggies nice and fine. Mince the cloves of garlic.

2) In a large pot, heat up oil over low-medium heat. Add flour. Immediately attack with a whisk until combined. Raise heat slightly and begin whisking constantly. You’re make a roux – and we want a nice dark Cajun one. “Dark” is one step below “burnt” so be careful. Play around with the heat if you need to, but do not go above medium. After 20-30 minutes, you should have a smelly goopy substance that has about the same color as a brown paper bag.

3) Toss in your veggies. Stir and saute until soft – 5-10 minutes maybe.

4) Toss in your spices. Stir to combine. I’ve kept the spices very generic because everyone seems to like different amounts. Keep your stock of them close by to season to your personal tastes.

5) Pour in water. You can also use stock, if you prefer, but I’ve never noticed a big difference by the time the gumbo is finished. The roux will flavor (and overpower) the mild tastes of the stock.

6) Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 2-3 hours or until the liquid is reduced and colored the same as the roux and no longer tastes like veggie-water.

Note: Right now, it all tastes like veggie-water. Do not panic. The flavors haven’t had enough time to do anything yet. Just keep tasting and eventually you will start enjoying it. That’s when you know you’re about done.

7) At 10-15 minutes before you want to serve, toss in your shrimp and crab. Make sure you remove the tails from the shrimp (if they have them). I also like to chop my shrimp in half for easier eating. When done, the shrimp will be nice and pink.

8) Serve. Note, that a proper gumbo is not ‘served’ over rice like an Italian dish over noodles. A good gumbo bowl is shallow and wide, with a tiny bed of rice at the bottom and a big ladle of the good stuff over it – it should really look like soup.

Per Cajun traditions, anyone who finds a hard inedible object in their bowl (shrimp shell, crab shell, small plastic baby) “wins” and gets to make the next batch.