This is so good. The recipe will make about 7 quarts of gumbo/stew, so adjust the ingredients for more or less.
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable oil
8 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 medium onions, chopped
4 (14 1/2 oz.) cans ready-to-serve chicken broth
2 (28 oz.) cans or fresh whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped. I prefer to use fresh tomatoes in mine.
20 ounces, sliced fresh okra, you can use thawed out frozen but the fresh makes the gumbo better tasting.
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. hot sauce
5 bay leaves
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
2 tsp. dried whole thyme
2 tsp. dried whole oregano
2 tsp. dried whole basil
2 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. pepper
2 lb. unpeeled, medium-size fresh shrimp
1 quart oysters, undrained
1 lb. fresh crabmeat, drained and flaked
1 lb. fish fillets, cut into 1-inch cubes
Hot cooked rice
Gumbo file'
Directions:
Combine oil and flour in a cast-iron skillet; cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, making sure you constantly, until roux is the color of chocolate. Stir in onion, celery and garlic; cook 10 minutes, stirring often. Transfer mixture to a Dutch oven. Add chicken broth and next 12 ingredients; simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Peel and devein shrimp. Add shrimp, oysters, crabmeat, and fish to Dutch oven; simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves. Serve gumbo over hot cooked rice or eat as stew, and sprinkle with file'.