Gumbo Tradition.

When I was growing up my grand mother on my moms side of the family would show up every Christmas Eve with a big pot of seafood gumbo...It was great and exciting for me as a kid to watch grand mother dip through the pot with a ladle and dip out a whole crab into my bowl...I had been around seafood all my life but dad and mom never cooked crabs in any way....My grand mother put them in the gumbo for the flavor and she knew I would eat them too....To me this meal was better than Christmas day meal but I never complained to anyone because I knew it was a tradition that my grandmother had started and I loved it.


In my teen years my mom and dad went through a divorce and I just drifted from friend to friend and the tradition was all but lost until I got on my feet by 22 years old and started writing parts of my life on paper...I barely stayed in touch with family for a few years and held alot of hard feelings towards others but I never forgot the gumbo tradition...I talked about it for years and thought about how nice it used to be....Six years ago I called my grand mother for a long awaited talk and in that talk the gumbo tradition on Christmas eve did indeed surface and we talked recipes...She told me that the recipe that she used was from her granny from many years ago and that she used it to the letter....When I told her that I had a recipe for gumbo and told her my version she went into awe....Since then she has tried my gumbo and claims mine is better than hers but I'll disagree everytime.



Since the phone call I made to my grand mother that November night I decided to fully take on this Christmas Eve tradition and make sure people that eat the gumbo know why I cook it ...theres more than one reason...Its a great meal before the traditional meal the following day...Its a comfort food to me and it sure warms you up on a December night....Like grand mother uised to say, "It goes good with beer or bourbon".



This story is one facet of my life that I never forgot and it never forgot me... I held on to this one piece of life that kept me going through the years from one Christmas to another and made it a wonderful day even when I was alone...I hope and pray that you all can have a little of my gumbo on Christmas Eve...God Bless.

It sounds like a good thing to keep going, Now if you would share your recipe I might just have it with you on Christmas Eve. Hint, hint.

lolol PAPA me to.

Awesome story of part of your life, Greg! Thanks for sharing with us... I agree with papa and Mike... If you share the recipe with us, maybe some of us will make it on Christmas Eve and be able to eat some Gumbo with you in spirit. If we don't have the means to make it, just make sure you think of us with every bite you take. hehehehehe!~!

We have oyster stew every year for Christmas have been doing it for 30 years now, but i could add to it lolol.

Hey Mike!...I gave the recipe last year...you remember which number it is?

Lololol I thought you did, i will look when i get home from deer hunting this morning.

Recipe Submitted By Saltfisher1...Week#50

Making Gumbo My Way.


You have to start off any good gumbo or creole with a "roux"...This will be the base of your gumbo and determine how thick/thin the gumbo will be.

You need to save up 1 pint or more of bacon drippings and keep it in a jar in the fridge...Cooking oil will work but the flavor just isn't the same.

"Medium-low to Medium"...don't burn it!
You put near equal amounts of bacon fat and self rising flour in the bottom of your pot..Make sure this is the pot you intend to make the gumbo in...You may need to add a touch more fat/grease to the flour because it needs to be able to be stirred. This stirring process can take about 30 to 45 minutes but you don't want to rush it and burn the flour too quickly or you will get a bitter taste...just stir every minute or so with a wood spoon until the flour is just a little darker than peanut butter.

At this point I add the "trinity"..2 or 3 bell pepper,6 to 8 stalks of celery, and 3 big onions chopped...I add a little fresh chopped garlic, salt, pepper,parsley, bay-leaves(3-4).. Stir these ingredients in well and cover them for about 20 minutes to let the trinity sweat...(add a hot pepper for heat..optional)...keep on medium heat!




You will notice that the flour is starting to take on moisture and turn into a really thick gravy. .At this point I add 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 2 lbs of fresh chopped okra, 1lb each of yellow squash and zucchini chopped, and a can of corn...I add 2 to 3 beers of choice..just enough to meet the top of these ingredients....I stir this in well and add a touch more salt and pepper...(season it a little as you go)..I let this stay on medium and stir it to keep it from sticking on bottom every few minutes.....Make sure there is enough water but don't over fill it.....Let the vegetables break down and start falling to pieces then you will be ready for the next step.



This is where you make the decision if you want shrimp gumbo or all out seafood gumbo...I like all out seafood gumbo so I add a pint to a quart of crab-meat....stir it in well and let the temperature come back up for a few minutes...Sometimes I will finely chop up a fish fillet like flounder or snapper and add in at the same time as the crab.....Let the fish cook through before adding next ingredients....Peel and devein 2 to 4 lbs of shrimp(the more the merrier)...add the shrimp and let them all turn that pink/cooked color then add a quart of select oysters and stir it all in....Turn the heat off at this point because the remaining heat will cook the oysters over the next few minutes.



I serve mine over rice with a sprinkle of "gumbo file" and sliced jalapeno's on the side.

OMG that sounds great! I was salivating while reading it.

It is good....Its hard to beat.

sounds yummmmie !