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1
Shrimp - First peel shrimp, keep chilled, save shells.
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2
Put shells in small pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.
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3
When water has been reduced by about half, remove from heat, cool, and strain out shells.
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4
Reserve water.
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5
Chicken and sausage - Chop sausage and chicken into medium bite-sized pieces, brown in fry pan, drain, set aside.
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6
Okra - Cut off stems and tips, slice into 1/2 inch pieces.
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7
Set aside.
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8
Prepare garlic, Spanish onions, green onions, celery, set aside separately.
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9
Roux - Melt butter in a large IRON pan or deep pot, add flour.
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10
Stir constantly over low heat until flour is cooked, starting to lightly brown.
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11
Care is needed here because from cooked to burned is a short but tragic step, but you can start over.
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12
After light brown, the color is all politics, it tastes good.
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13
Once the roux is cooked, stir in garlic and celery.
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14
Turn up heat a bit, say about medium, but stir constantially to prevent roux from burning.
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15
After about 1 to 2 minutes, dump in chopped Spanish onions and green pepper, continue stirring.
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16
After another minute or so of cooking and stiring, dump in the okra.
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17
By this time the roux appears to have disappeared, but is still there, clinging to the vegetables.
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18
Continue cooking for another 2 to 3 minutes until the okra starts to wilt and become shiny.
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19
(If you are using an iron fry pan, rather than a pot, you will now be running out of space and will need to now transfer the ingredients to a larger pot to continue.)
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20
Stir in the chicken and sausage pieces.
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21
After another minute, mix in shrimp water, the oyster juice, the bottle of clam juice, and enough chicken stock to cover the ingredients by an inch or so.
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22
Add bay leaves, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauces, spices, salt and pepper.
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23
Slowly bring to a boil (over a period of five minutes or more), stirring frequently.
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24
As soon as the mixture boils, immediately remove from heat and cover.
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25
After five minutes, remove cover, add tomato, oysters, scallops and shrimp.
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26
Give a few more stirs, re-cover, and wait for 20 minutes.
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27
The declining heat from the mixture will cook, but not overcook, the seafood.
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28
From this point, this mixture should never be brought to the boil again.
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29
Now is a good time to make the rice.
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30
Check for thickness.
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31
If too thick, thin out with additional chicken stock.
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32
If too thin, add file' in a separate serving bowl before adding to rice.
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33
Once file' is added to gumbo, do not re-heat, as this will cause stringiness.
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34
Just before serving, mix in the chopped green onions.
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35
They should be only slightly cooked, a little wilted but also a little crunchy.
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36
Serve in soup platter, with an island of white rice surrounded by a green moat of gumbo, meat and seafood.
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37
Serve with split buttered and broiled French bread, and white wine or beer.
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38
This is an expensive dish to fix, and there should be no left-overs.
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39
If there are, then use up promptly, because of the seafood content.
