Seafood gumbo recipe for Thanksgiving

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons flour
3 sweet onions finely chopped
2 green peppers finely chopped
6 stalks celery finely chopped
2 28 ounce cans whole tomatoes
1 bag frozen cut okra
2-4 lbs peeled and de-veined shrimp
1-2 lbs lump crabmeat
1-2 lbs raw oysters (optional)
1-2 teaspoons salt to taste
pepper to taste or red pepper to taste
1 lb crab claws as a topping (optional)

Start with the roux, mix the equal parts of oil and flour in a mircosafe bowl . I sometimes cook extra roux in case I want to add extra later if I don’t feel it is thick enough.I start by microwaving the mixture for 3 minutes and stir then continue microwaving at 30 sec to 1 minute intervals until the roux is almost a chocolate brown. Be careful not to burn yourself or burn the roux. If you wish you can finish the roux in a heavy skillet. This is slower but safer.
After you brown the roux add to a skillet then add chopped vegetables, onion, celery, bell pepper and cook until tender.
In a separate large soup pot add can tomatoes, 2 quarts chicken broth, 1 quart water and okra and bring to a boil. Cook until tomatoes have broken down approximately 20 minutes. Turn temp down to medium .
Add liquid 1 cup at a time to roux stirring constantly. Then add roux to soup pot . Start to add seafood in small amounts but save oysters until the last 20 minutes. Add about 1\4 of your total seafood and cook for at least 1 hour. I like to see my seafood and I don’t like my shrimp chewy so I add most of my seafood about 20 minutes before serving. I add crab claws about 5 minutes before serving and try to place them on the top of the bowl for looks. I hope you can find fresh seafood . Serve over rice in a soup bowl . Enjoy!
In

Thanksgiving Gumbo and Potato Salad?

A Thanksgiving tradition for my family ,gumbo and potato salad,is a traditional menu we serve the night before a holiday. I’m not sure if it is a southern thing or just how we cook along the coast, but I can not remember a holiday without gumbo!  My grandmother, mother and aunts all cooked gumbo as an appetizer for the holiday meal. They would prepare the gumbo the night before , of course we always had to have a taste ! The taste turned into a traditional meal for the night before the holiday, we  add potato salad as a sidedish.  My grandmother’s gumbo was chicken and oyster , Josh ,my foodie Tulane med student son , cooks New Orleans style andouille sausage gumbo and I am the traditional seafood gumbo. We even make Kosher chicken gumbo for my brother- in-law. Check my next post for the recipes……….

Crimson Tide Coleslaw

Crimson Tide Coleslaw
by Lenae Cleveland Denson
1 large head green cabbage
1 small head red cabbage
1 small sweet onion (white or red)
Just a touch of carrot, (not too much orange color)
1 jar Wickles sweet cubes or relish, drained (“They are sweet and spicy, and made by an
Alabamian,” Denson wrote.)
Sauce:
1-1/2 to 2 cups Hellmann’s mayonnaise
1-1/2 to 2 cups sour cream
2–5 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
The slaw tastes best if you mix the sauce mixture separately and add to the slaw just before serving. It keeps it from getting to watery taste. “Great on barbeque sandwiches or a wonderful side,” she noted.