Seafood Gumbo

This is a recipe that never fails to impress. There's the perfect amount of spice and to top it off, it's good for you! I serve it with a salad and some warm rolls. I usually use just under a 1/2 tsp of each pepper. If you like really spicy, use 1/2 tsp each.

• Ready In: 1 hr 50 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1  large onion, chopped
• 1  medium green bell pepper, chopped
• 2  medium celery ribs, chopped
• 1 1⁄2 lbs fresh okra, cut into 1/2-inch pieces or 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen cut okra, thawed and drained or 2 (14 1/2ounce) cans okra, drained
• 2  garlic cloves, crushed
• 1⁄4 cup butter, plus
• 2  tablespoons butter
• 1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 (16 ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained
• 5  cups chicken broth
• 2  teaspoons salt
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2  bay leaves
• 1  lb  medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 12  ounces  imitation crabmeat
• 3  cups cooked rice

Directions

1. Mix onion, bell pepper, celery, okra and garlic; reserve.
2. Heat butter in 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Gradually stir in flour. Cook, stirring occasionally, until caramel colored, about 7 minutes.
3. Add half of reserved onion mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining onion mixture. Cook until celery is crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in and break up tomatoes. Stir in chicken broth, salt, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper and bay leaves. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.
4. Add shrimp and crabmeat to Dutch oven. Heat to boiling. Boil uncovered 1 1/2 minutes; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 15 minutes. Stir and remove bay leaves. Serve over rice.