GINNA PARSONS
I got an email from my friend Mike Armour a couple of weeks ago that contained a recipe for Crock-Pot Gumbo. Armour is always sending me jokes and I thought this had to be another one of them.
Everyone knows gumbo is an all-day process where you plan to spend many hours at the stove stirring and simmering and sampling.
Still, when I looked at the list of ingredients, the recipe seemed fairly authentic and it even started with a roux, an equal mixture of flour and fat used as a thickener.
I decided to give it a try.
When I went to the store for ingredients, the only bag of frozen shelled deveined shrimp available was a 16-ounce bag and I didn’t want to have to deal with four ounces of leftover frozen shrimp. So I ended up buying 12 ounces of fresh cooked peeled deveined shrimp, and just cooked them less time in the Crock-Pot.
I put the gumbo on about noon last Wednesday and when I got home at 6, I took the top off and checked it. It was very thick, so I added about 1⁄2 cup chicken broth to the mixture, stirred it, and let it cook another hour. Then I added the shrimp and cooked it another 10 minutes, just to let the shrimp heat through.
In addition to the broth, the only other ingredients I added to the gumbo, at the beginning, were 1 teaspoon of file powder and 1 bay leaf. Those aren’t necessary, but they do add authentic flavor.
Was this the best gumbo I’ve ever had? No. But it was very, very good. Charlie, daughter Mary and I all licked our plates that night and we each had a serving the next day, which was equally good. This is a great recipe for our coming crisp days and it makes the whole house smell wonderful.
Here’s the original recipe, without my changes.
Crock-Pot Gumbo
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1⁄2 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1⁄2-inch slices
2 cups frozen cut okra
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1⁄4 teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (14.5 ounce size) diced tomatoes, with juice
12 ounces frozen shelled deveined cooked medium shrimp, rinsed
11⁄2 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
3 cups water
In small saucepan, combine flour and oil; mix well. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or until mixture turns reddish brown. Place the roux in 31⁄2 to 4 quart Crock-Pot.
Stir in all remaining ingredients except shrimp, rice and water. Cover; cook on low setting for 7 to 9 hours. When ready to serve, cook rice in water as directed on package. Meanwhile, add shrimp to gumbo, stir well and cover; cook on low setting for additional 20 minutes (if using fresh cooked shrimp, cook 10 minutes). Serve gumbo over rice. Makes 6 servings.
Ginna Parsons is the Daily Journal’s food/home/garden editor.