This thick dish of shrimp, sausage, and chicken begins with a dark roux (ROO), flour and fat cooked slowly over low heat to the color (light to dark) specified in the recipe. Spicy and served over rice, gumbo is a mainstay to serve on holidays.

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh or frozen medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 cups fresh or frozen cut okra, thawed (12 ounces)
• 2 tablespons cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped green sweet pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
• 1/4 teaspon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 ounces cooked andouille or smoked sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 cup chopped cooked turkey or chicken
• 4 ounces cooked crabmeat, cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 teaspoon file powder (gumbo file)
• 5 cups cooked rice

Directions

• Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Rinse shrimp and pat dry; set aside.
• Cook okra in the 2 tablespoons oil and sugar in a saucepan about 8 minutes or until almost tender. Remove from heat; stir in vinegar and set aside.
• For roux, stir together flour and the 1/2 cup oil in a heavy 4-quart Dutch oven until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a long-handled wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir constantly 10 to 15 minutes more or until roux is a dark reddish-brown. Stir in onion, celery, green pepper, garlic, crushed red pepper, paprika, thyme, black pepper, and ground red pepper (or Cajun seasoning, if using). Cook and stir over medium heat about 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
• Gradually stir broth into roux mixture. Stir in tomato paste and bay leaf. Bring mixture to boiling. Add shrimp. Cook 2 minutes or until shrimp turn opaque. Stir in sausage, turkey, crabmeat (if using), cooked okra, peanut butter, and file powder. Heat through. Discard bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over hot cooked rice. Pass hot pepper sauce. Garnish with fresh marjoram sprigs, if desired. Makes 10 main-dish servings.

Note

• For convenience, use 1-1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning in place of the crushed red pepper, paprika, thyme, black pepper, and ground red pepper.