Mom's Seafood Gumbo

5 quarts water
1 box crab & shrimp boil
2 lb. shrimp
2 cups celery, finely chopped
2 cups onion, finely chopped
4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. sliced frozen okra
1 1/4 cup oil
2 cups flour
1 16-oz. can stewed tomatoes
1 16-oz. can tomato sauce
Hot pepper sauce to taste
Pinch of thyme
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of salt
1 to 2 lb. crab
4 tsp. gumbo filé

Prep. time: 2 hours
Yield: 12 servings

Bring water and crab & shrimp boil to boil in an 8-quart pot. Add shrimp and simmer 5 minutes, or until pink but not tightly curled. Remove shrimp from pot, reserving water. Peel and devein shrimp; set aside.

Bring water back to a boil. While the water heats, sauté celery, onion (save a small handful of raw onion for the roux), and garlic in skillet. Set aside.

Cook okra in a little water in microwave until tender, but not stringy (about 8 minutes on HIGH). Stir every 4 minutes.

While the okra is cooking, start the roux. Heat oil in a cast-iron skillet on medium heat. Sprinkle flour, a little at a time, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon. First it will turn beige, then light brown, then dark brown. It should be as dark as coffee. Be very careful not to burn it. This takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes of constant stirring. Add a handful of raw minced onion to stop the browning process. Remove from fire as soon as the onions are stirred into the flour. Add a small amount of hot stock to roux, stirring constantly, until the mixture is completely dissolved, then add to large pot of stock.

Add the onion, celery, garlic, okra, tomatoes, tomato sauce, hot sauce, thyme, and oregano. Simmer 30 minutes stirring often. Taste for seasoning.

Add shrimp and crab meat during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Add filé during the last 5 or 10 minutes of cooking.

Serve over hot rice.

Gumbo freezes well and tastes even better the second time around. It reheats wonderfully in a crock pot left to simmer all day.

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