Seafood Gumbo

Roux

½ cup veggie oil
½ cup flour

Gumbo

3 tbsp veggie oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
½ tsp thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 lb shrimp, peeled
3 dozen oysters, liquor reserved*
Oyster liquor plus water to equal 2 quarts**
Hot Sauce

Heat oil in a large skillet, add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic, and sauté until vegetables are soft. Add bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper. Add water and oyster liquor.

To make the roux, heat oil over medium heat, add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until roux reaches a the desired color. I like to make mine a rich café au lait color. Remove from heat, but keep stirring until cooled and the cooking process has stopped.

Whisk about half of the roux into the gumbo and bring to a boil. Add additional roux as needed to achieve the consistency you want.

Simmer about an hour. Add shrimp and oyster and continue simmering until seafood is done, about 5 minutes. Add hot sauce to taste. Serve over rice.

*If not using oysters use and additional 1 lb of shrimp or substitute any other seafood.
** Mimi’s recipe called for water but, I like the addition of the oyster liquor and I would also use seafood stock instead of the water.