Sunday's Gumbo Dish

Sunday's are one of the days I enjoy cooking!  I don't work on Sundays, therefore, it's MY day to do the cooking.  Anyone who knows me, knows I love to do the cooking, making new and old recipes.  I will tell you though, when I'm in the kitchen, that's my domain!  Yes, stay out of the kitchen when I'm cooking (yes, I'm actually smiling at this)!

When I cook, I have to be focused and "in the zone".  One little distraction, then that little "zone" is gone.  But, with the Sunday meal I made last night, that isn't the case.  There's quite a bit of prep that goes into Gumbo, and this time, I decided to chop my celery, onion and garlic BEFORE I started my roux.  This made it easier to do other things, such as chit chat, while my gumbo was cooking for the remainder hour and half.

So, here is the Gumbo recipe,  ENJOY!

Spicy Seafood Gumbo

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Onion, chopped

4 Ribs of Celery, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

4 Cups of broth

1  can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)

1 pkg frozen okra-sliced and thawed

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1-2 TBS hot sauce

2 large Bay Leaves

1/2 Cup minced Parsley

1 tsp Thyme-dried

1 tsp Basil-dried

1 tsp Sage

1 tsp Pepper

1 lb Shrimp, peeled (I use the frozen and remove tails)

1/2lb to 1lb polish sausage, sliced

hot cooked rice

File powder (optional)

Combing the flour and oil in a large pan or Dutch Oven.  Cook over Med-Low to Medium heat 20 minutes, stirring constantly.  Roux should be a nice caramel brown to almost a dark brown color.  DON'T SCORCH!  Stir in onions, garlic and celery and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Stir often.  Add broth, tomatoes, okra, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, bay leaves and other dried spices.  Simmer for 1 1/2.  Stir Occasionally.  Add sliced polish sausage and cook additional 10-15 minutes.  Add Shrimp and cook another 10-15 minutes.  

NOTE:  When using frozen shrimp, I normally add this to the very last, 10 minutes of cooking, only because I don't want the shrimp to cook down to itty bitty.