Seasons Eatings

Gumbo with the "fixins"....

Ok you're going to need:

Neckbones
Okra
Onions, Tomatoes, Green Onions, Parsley, Kale
Habanero Peppers (JUST 1 or 1 1/2 if you like spice)
1 small tin of tomato sauce for texture
Shrimp (Fresh or Frozen, I prefer fresh)
Crabs (doesn't matter)
Andouille sausage
Coconut Milk (optional)
Chicken Stock or your meat's broth
Your favorite spices: I USED ALOT for instance, crushed pepper, salt, black pepper, cayenne, Tony's, Slap Ya Mama's and so much more. I needed that kick

Preparation

After hunting for crabs throughout north Houston and finding out only 1 store had crabs Christmas Eve, was exhausting. That lucky store was Fiesta. I usually go to Asian marts for my seafood but noooo they just had to be sold out and of course everybody and their mamas were making a gumbo so yeah... -___- I did buy 4 lbs of shrimp from Hong Kong Market for $30 which I didn't mind because they were tiger shrimp and fresh. I only like fresh seafood in my gumbo so it's worth the price. Nobody said making a gumbo for a Christmas event was going to be cheap LOL. I got about 2-3 lbs of cleaned blue crab from Fiesta for about $14 or so. Not that bad since they were already cleaned just needed to be seasoned and thrown in the pot. I won't say I got any sale out of this lol, I expected the prices.

Gumbo is a special occasion meal meaning once or twice a year type thing. Made a special pot for Christmas for my boyfriend's family. Pot was HUGE including everyone's appetite after bringing it over. Crabs, shrimp, andouille sausage, chicken, etc are the main attraction but it's all in the roux. Roux is easy but the duration is rather annoying because you're constantly stirring until it creates a dark brown color. Another option could be already mixed roux which you could boil with broth or water added with your favorite vegetables.

Before the Crabs were added
 

Onions, garlic, green onions, tomatoes, celery, parsley sautéed with extra virgin olive oil until tender. Add a handful of flour, stir until brown and keep stirring frequently. I used broth from the neck bones that I seasoned and boiled separately in a pot, to put into the gumbo later. Yes! Neck bones are amazing in gumbo. Neck bones don't have a surplus of meat but they do have enough flavor to go around. I used 1 package of neck bones and chopped them
up, seasoned them, tossed in some onions, and let it boil till it builds up a broth. Pour it into the vegetables and flour stir continuously, let it boil.

I added my spices and sometimes I could get a little too spicy so to weigh the spice down, I add coconut milk. Yes coconut milk but NOT the whole can just gradually. Besides coconut milk gives your roux some texture but don't worry it still keeps it color. After test tasting go ahead and spice it up to your taste. Boil it down on medium heat. Boiling for about 30 minutes and gradually adding water to thin out your roux and preventing from sticking it to pot.

Andouille sausage and turkey necks are added in the roux. Roux will get thicker but nothing a little water can't do. Remember season to taste as your gumbo is cooking! Season at your discretion.
Great thing about gumbo is your meat can be seasoned so well and it season the whole pot! Another option you can use is crab boil and gumbo boil for the roux. Nothing wrong with using one or the other or maybe even both. No harm done.

Seafood ALWAYS come last, they don't take long to cook at all which is the best thing about them neither do you need to season them with salt since they come from salt water. Maybe spices like paprika, cayenne, cumin, or anything with a kick. Honestly not necessary since your gumbo is well seasoned and the seafood will be filled with flavor. Okra is usually before the seafood but there's no preference whether you add it now or later. I added the okra before the seafood FYI. at this point everything should be in the gumbo: turkey necks, sausage, crab, shrimp, okra, seafood and etc. Throw it all in there without mercy, let it be on a low simmer and just have it boil for about 30-45 minutes. Keep it on low, it needs to be at a simmer standing so it can have time to soak in all those flavors.