Easter Brunch Recipe: Seafood Gumbo
In the South it is not at all uncommon to find seafood gumbo as part of a traditional meal like Christmas dinner or Easter brunch. It is the official soup of the Gulf Coast and highlights the local ingredients especially oysters and crawfish which are at their peak in early Spring. Before giving you my recipe for gumbo I’ll invite you to watch this short film from the Dauphin Island Gumbo Cook-off in which Alton Brown was in attendance and even offered his approach to making roux. If you don’t care to watch the video just scroll on down for the recipe.
Recipe: Seafood Gumbo
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 1 lb shrimp
- 1 lb crabmeat
- 1 lb crawfish tails
- 1 pint oysters
- 1 med onion, diced
- 1 bunch celery stalks, rough chopped
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 lb okra, sliced
- 1/2 bottle Louisiana Hot Sauce- a whole bottle if you like it HOT! Omit for sissies.
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 4 tablespoons butter
- Salt, cayenne pepper, File’, white pepper, & black pepper to taste
- Bay leaves
- 1 quart fish stock or shrimp stock
Instructions
- Boil rice in well salted water with a bay leaf and set aside.
- In a large stockpot melt butter and add flour to make a roux cook until chocolate brown, roughly 20 minutes.
- Add onions, celery, bell peppers, and a little water if needed and simmer a few minutes then add hot sauce, tomatoes, bay leaves, salt, both peppers and fish stock. Simmer for about half an hour.
- Add okra and seafood and simmer about another twenty minutes.
- Remove bay leaves. Serve hot over rice, and garnish with a sprinkle of file’.
Quick Notes
Gumbo is the African word for okra therefore okra is the one ingredient that cannot be omitted from the recipe. However you can get creative with it if you just are not a fan like pulverizing it in a food processor or using fried okra as a garnish. Also, smoked sausage or the French summer sausage Andouille are common additions.
Be sure to check out my full Easter Brunch Menu HERE.
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