Antje's Untraditional Gumbo

No one can write a gumbo recipe that goes unattacked. It can't be done. I am no exception:

But at least it tastes good...
1. Buy about two pounds of small shrimp tails (head gone, shell on). Boil them with salt and old bay or zatarin's if you want. Cool. Pull the shrimp out and shell them. Throw away the shells but keep the broth.

2. Make a roux of half flour and half butter (now traditionally they use oil, but I like butter and I'm a snob and it's elegant). So anyway... I go with 1 cup butter and 1 cup of flour. Melt the butter and then stir in the flour. LEt it bubble and so forth until it becomes a nice carmel color.

3. Cut up an onion, red pepper and five plum tomatoes. These should be very small pieces -- about 1/4 inch cubed. Sautee them in a separate pan until the onions are translucent and the pepper and tomatoes have yielded their juices.

4. Add about two tablespoons of worschestershire sauce and two tablespoons of ordinary ketchup to the roux. Then add as much Tabasco as you like. On top of that add Tony Checheries or Zatarines to taste.

5. Add the sauteed veggies to the roux. Add the shrimp stock you set aside earlier.

6. When it's hot and thick. Add chunks of white fish fillet (you can use catfish but I don't since it tastes like dirt). Add cooked shrimp.

7. Add two bags of frozen cut okra.

simmer on very low heat for a minimum of two hours. Do not let it evaporate and stir only occassionally or the fish will completley flake apart.


Serve over short-grain rice.


Warning... I have not gone to the trouble of looking up the spelling of the spices.... anyone who wants can post the corrected spellings for everyone's sake.