Cullen's Whole Chicken Shrimp Crab Ham Gumbo
3 lb Boiler-fryer chicken
2 qt Water
1/2 cup Bacon drippings
1/2 cup All-purpose flour
4 stalk celery, chopped
2 med Onions, chopped
1 lrg Green bell pepper, chopped
2 x Cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup Chopped fresh parsley
2 lb Shrimp
1 lb Okra, sliced
2 tbl Bacon drippings
4 med Tomatoes, peeled/seeded coarsely chopped
2 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp Hot sauce
1 lrg Bay leaf
2 tsp Dried whole thyme
1/2 tsp Dried whole rosemary
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 x Ham hocks
1 1/2 cup Cooked ham, cubed
4 x Soft shell crabs
2 tsp Molasses
Juice of 1 large lemon
Hot cooked rice
Gumbo File', (optional)
Method :
Combine chicken and water in a Dutch oven.Bring to a boil; cover and simmer 1
1/2 hours or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from broth; cut into 1 inch
cubes. Strain broth, reserving 6 cups. Heat 1/2 cup of bacon drippings in an 8
quart Dutch oven; stir in flour. Cook over Medium heat, stirring occasionally,
until roux is the color of a copper penny (10-15 minutes). Add celery, onion,
green pepper, garlic and parsley; cook over Low heat for 45 minutes. (Mixture
will be dry.) Peel shrimp, reserving shells; refrigerate shrimp until needed.
Combine shells nad enough water to cover in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and
boil for 20 minutes. Strain shell stock, reserving 2 cups. Cook orka in 2
tablespoons bacon drippings until tender, stirring occasionally. Add okra,
reserved chicken stock,shrimp stock and next 9 ingredients to roux mixture.
Bring to a boil; then reduce heat and simmer 2 1/2 hours, stirring mixture
occasionally. Add cooked chicken, ham hocks and cubed ham, crabs and molasses;
simmer 30 additionaly minutes. Add shrimp, andl simmer 10 minutes longer. Stir
in lemon juice.
Serve over rice. Add a small amount of file' to each serving, if desired.
Yield: 3 1/2 quarts.
Florida