We enjoyed this recipe very much but with a couple of additions: Joe's cajun seasoning and Louisiana hot sauce. I used frozen Okra and deveined shrimp to keep it simple and fast. And I added an extra tablespoon of oil to the roux - makes it fail proof! Hearty and tasty! Enjoy!
This recipe was very bland and the shrimp was tough after cooking it so long it was long in preparing. Add some cajun spices to it (louisianna hot sauce is wonderful)and use pre-deveined shrimp and frozen chopped okra and that would cut the prep time down a lot.
Because of some of the comments I added about a teaspoon of straight chili powder and extra garlic. Sooooo good! I had company and it was a big success. The added chili was just enough to make you start sniffing a bit at the end - not enough to cause even the two 8 year olds eating it any difficulties and they polished it off. I'll be making this again for sure.
I found this recipe to be VERY bland and watery, and if you add the shrimp at the beginning it makes it very "TUFF" and I cant see it being from Louisiana with it having zero flavor.
And to peel 2lbs of shrimp and chop all the other ingredients takes ALOT longer than 5 minutes.
NOT RECOMENDED
This is a pretty standard gumbo recipe but always always wait until 5 to 10 minutes before serving to add the shrimp. Otherwise as others complained they'll be tough as shoe leather. I include a cup of chopped celery with the onion and bell pepper to be authentic. I always season with Tony Chachere's and some hot sauce (I love Cholula) and add sliced smoked sausage (which you can add early).
For everyone not from the south.. Friendly tip! I recommend to buy the shrimp with heads on them. You save the heads and boil them in a couple cups of water. It adds another layer of flavor to the gumbo!
I thought this was a pretty good recipe once you add some flavor to it. I added some Tony Chachere's creole seasoning and cayenne pepper to taste and instead of red peppers I added green bell peppers. I also added some snow crab legs and you can't add the shrimp or crab legs until the last ten minutes or so or they will be tuff. It turned out pretty good once I added this to the recipe.
The prep time is actually much longer. Cutting up 3 cups of okra and shelling and deveining 2 pounds of shrimp take a lot longer than 5 minutes. It is also a bit bland.
I did change a couple of things on it though. I added Tony's seasoning along with the salt and pepper to taste. I also limited the amount of garlic used. Other than that everyone loved it!
