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Another Gumbo recipe

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    Another Gumbo recipe

    The recent thread on Gumbo brought to mind the recipe that has been in my family for about a century, which my mother got from her Aunt Lillian. Here it is as she wrote it. You may want to use a bit more ham ...

    Lillian Wismauer’s Creole Gumbo Recipe (c. 1920?)

    (4 people)

    Ingredients:
    1 lb okra
    1 15-cent slice of raw ham
    2 lbs of shrimp
    10 crabs or ½ lb of crab meat
    1 can of Del Monte Tomato Sauce
    Scant teaspoonful of flour

    Directions:

    Wash shrimp several times: peel.
    Wash okra, cut stems off, slice very thinly.
    Cut fat off the sides of the ham after cutting off the extreme ends.
    Slice fat into small pieces (cubes), put aside.
    Slice ham into small cubes.

    We are now ready to begin.

    Put pan on fire with a small amount of lard.
    When this is hot, fry small cubes of ham fat until a little brown.
    Add ham and fry, this for about two minutes (don’t let it get hard).
    Then, push ham to sides and add shrimp about a dozen at a time. They will turn pink when they are fried. Just turn over once or twice, then move to the sides of pan and add more.
    When this is complete add cut okra. Stir this around several times, then turn fire off and let this mixture stand while you prepare the gravy.

    Take one large onion and one small sweet pepper. Cut both up fine.
    Put on another frying pan (if you have one), add a tablespoon of lard and fry onion and sweet pepper until light brown. Then add a scant teaspoon of flour. Let this get a little brown, then add tomato sauce (can). Stir around a few times then add 2 cans of water. Pour this over other ingredients and cook over slow fire about 1 or 1 ½ hours. When shrimp are soft it is done.

    If it cooks down too much you can add water. If you use raw crab put them in right away. If you use crab meat, put this in about 15 minutes before serving.

    Hope it’s good.

    #2
    Thanks!

    Comment


      #3
      Nice

      Comment


        #4
        Sounds great. Not sure how much ham you get for $0.15, so I may just add a full slice.

        Comment


          #5
          Sounds great! Just wondering how much onion and sweet pepper? (What did she mean by sweet pepper)?

          Comment


          • Mr. Bones
            Mr. Bones commented
            Editing a comment
            Reckon Sweet Pepper=Bell Peppers; it's what they was called, when I was jus a youngun...

          #6
          What size can of tomato sauce did she use?

          Comment


            #7
            Here's my interpretation of Aunt Lilian's recipe. It is much esteemed at pot lucks, for sure:

            2 lbs medium-sized shrimp, peeled.
            1 lb ham, diced, or Andouille sausage, sliced
            ½ lb crab meat (optional, but real good; whole crabs are messy to eat)

            1 lb okra, sliced (frozen is as good as fresh in this application)
            1 large yellow onion, chopped
            1 red or green bell pepper, chopped

            1 14oz can chopped tomatoes
            1 14oz can tomato sauce

            Salt
            Red pepper flakes to taste

            Sauté chopped onions, peppers, okra, ham/sausage, and shrimp separately in the oil of your choice. I use olive oil, but I bet lard is real good! Onions and peppers just need to be sweated until softened, not browned; shrimp just pink; ham or sausage, if uncooked, until cooked, otherwise just warm it up. Salt to taste as you go along.

            Put the the sautéed ingredients in a Dutch oven as you finish them. Add tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, and crab. You may need to add some water. Gumbo is a stew, not a soup, but it should have some liquid to it for the rice to absorb. Proportions aren’t critical. You can use two cans of tomato sauce if you don’t have chopped tomatoes, or vice versa if you don’t have the sauce.

            Correct salt and season with red pepper flakes, to taste. Traditional "Creole" gumbo is spicy, not fiery. Simmer at least half an hour, but don’t boil it, because it toughens the shrimp. Serve over rice.

            Comment


              #8
              Many Thanks, I am honoured to share such a family treasure!

              Comment

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