Name: Shrimp and Crab Gumbo
Yield: Yields 10 servings
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 3½ tablespoons (53 g) lard; 1½ teaspoons dried thyme; 3 tablespoons (45 g) lard or bacon fat; 2 teaspoons salt; 6 live hard-shelled blue crabs; 6 tablespoons flour; 1 dried red pepper pod; 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped; 1 whole green cayenne pepper, chopped with seeds; 4 tablespoons (60 g) butter; 7 medium, ripe tomatoes (blanched, peeled, and seeded), chopped to yield 4 cups (950 ml); 4 cups (950 ml) very thinly sliced okra; 2 bay leaves; 3 tablespoons peanut oil; Shrimp and crab shells; 3 celery ribs, chopped (to yield 1 cup or 235 ml); 2½ quarts (2½ L) water; 1½ teaspoons salt; ½ teaspoon Tabasco; 2½ cups (590 ml) raw long grain rice; 1½ green bell peppers, chopped (to yield 1½ cups or 355 ml); 4½ cups (1 L) water; 2 medium onions, chopped (to yield 2 cups or 475 ml); ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 2½ pounds (1125 g) shrimp in the shell

Preparation info

Yields
10
servings

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Bill Neal's Southern Cooking

By Bill Neal

Published 1985

About

Gumbo means seafood to most people, but in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana as many gumbos bubble away as there are pots. Chicken, turkey, duck, ham, sausage, and even venison end up in the soup with the holy trinity of Cajun cooking: onions, peppers, and celery. There is also a little-known specialty made of leafy green vegetables—gumbo aux herbes. The mystery of a great gumbo is contained in