Recipe: Mobile Bay Gumbo
I was born on the shores of Mobile Bay and I have spent more than 30 years living, hunting, fishing, cooking and most importantly eating beside its lapping waves. This beautiful and historic body of water provides a bounty of food especially seafood and wild game. This particular gumbo uses proteins found in or around Mobile Bay – duck, shrimp, oysters and flounder. Dig it!
| Mobile Bay Gumbo |
Recipe Type: Soup, Main
Author:
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins
Total time: 1 hour 40 mins
Serves: 4-8
Ingredients
- 4 duck breasts
- Olive oil (if needed)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 onions, diced
- 1 bunch celery, diced
- 3 bell peppers, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound fresh okra, sliced
- 1 gallon seafood stock (give or take)
- 1 TBL oregano
- 3 Bay leaves
- 1 TBL thyme
- Salt, pepper and/or Cajun seasoning to taste
- 2 pounds flounder filets, 1″ diced
- 2 pounds peeled shrimp
- 2 pints oysters (with liquid)
- Worcestershire Sauce to taste
- Louisiana hot sauce to taste
Instructions
- Lightly season the duck breasts and put skin-side down in a heated gumbo pot and cook until fat is rendered and skin is crispy as all get out, roughly 7 minutes. Remove the duck meat but leave that glorious fat.
- Add olive oil (if needed) so that you have 1/2 cup of fat in the pot and then add the flour, season to taste and cook the roux until the color of chocolate (about 15 to 20 minutes) stirring constantly.
- Add the onions, celery and peppers and cook another 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, okra and stock. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
- Add the herbs and season to taste.
- Dice the duck and add to the gumbo. Cook for 20 minutes.
- Add the fish and cook for five minutes.
- Add the oysters and cook for three minutes.
- Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 5 minutes.
- Season to taste with Worcestershire Sauce and Louisiana hot sauce.
- Serve over rice.
Notes
If you can’t find flounder then sheepshead or even catfish will do.
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