Thyme Out

This recipe is from The Soup Bible, by Debra Mayhew, which is one of the best soup cookbooks I’ve found. There are three recipes in this cookbook which are outstanding. The other two are Thai Chicken and Noodle Soup and Chicken Soup with Vermicelli.

My nephew Craig and I used to make this gumbo – there is a lot of chopping and stirring, so its definitely a two cook recipe. It takes a while for the roux, so open a good bottle of wine before you start. It makes a lot – 10-12 servings. Since it tastes even better the next day, I aways make the full recipe. Leftovers freeze well.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs raw shrimp in shell
• 1 1/2 quarts water
• 4 onions, 2 quartered
• 4 organic bay leaves
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup flour
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 2 green bell peppers, minced
• 4 celery stalks, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds andouille sausage, chopped
• 3 cups okra (I usually leave this out)
• 3 garlic cloves (or sub 1/2 teasponn  organic minced garlic)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried organic thyme
• 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
• 1/2 organic ground black pepper
• 1/2 organic ground white pepper
• 1 teaspoon chipotle hot sauce to taste
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 pound crab meat
• boiled rice to serve

Directions

1. Peel and devein shrimp, reserve shells. Chill shrimp.
2. Boil shell in water with 1 quartered onion and 1 bay leaf.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and set aside.
4. Make Roux: Heat oil, add flour a little at a time, blend into smooth paste. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly for 25-40 minutes (it usually takes closer to 40) until the roux looks like peanut butter. Remove from heat and continue stirring until the roux cools.
5. Saute onions, peppers, and celery in butter over medium heat for 6 minutes.
6. Add sausage and cook 5 minutes longer.
7. Add okra and garlic and cook 4 more minutes.
8. Add bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne.
9. Add shrimp stock and plum tomatoes. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
10. Whisk in roux and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer uncovered for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
11. Stir in shrimp and crab meat. Cook until shrimp turns pink – 3-4 minutes.
12. Season with hot sauce to taste
13. Serve with rice and wine (or beer)!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Browse Recipes, Dinner, Fish and Seafood, Pork, Salad/Soup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.