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[darkenedminds]

Two questions:

How far ahead from a party would it be OK to make gumbo? The party is at noon on Saturday - would Thursday night be OK?

Also: do you have any recommendations for a shrimp and sausage gumbo with okra, made from a roux (it seems a lot I'm finding aren't authentic and are based off of tomato paste for ease)?

Comments

[lunanoir]

My hairdresser (whom I've known for 20 years) is from louisiana and gave me a copy of a cookbook he got when he lived here. He says he swears by it and a lot of the recipes are just like his grandmother used to make (she was illiterate and never wrote them down)

Here's a recipe from there for shrimp and sausage gumbo; it doesn't have your specific combination with the okra though.

From Cajun Cuisine:

Shrimp gumbo

1 Cup flour
1/2 cup oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups of cubed and washed salt meat (I'm guessing like salt pork?)
1 cup plus 1 quart of water
2 cups of smoked sausage
3 cups peeled raw shrimp
Parsley and onion tops, chopped (optional)
Salt, to taste
Hot sauce (optional)
1/3 teaspoon gumbo file

1. Make a brown roux of the flour and oil
2. Add onions and salt meat; cook until dark brown
3. Add about one cup of water and the smoked sausage; cook about half an hour
4. Add shrimp; cook another half hour
5. Add parsley, onion topps, and hot sauce.
6. Add one quart of water and bring to a boil; boil slowly for about half an hour.
7. When you turn off heat, add file
8. Serve over cooked rice in soup bowls.

The shrimp and crab gumbo in here has onion, celery, and bell pepper instead of just onion. (1 small pepper, 1 stalk celery) but is otherwise pretty similar.

This is the book in case you're interested.

Good luck!