Crawfish & Andouille Sausage Gumbo

There are no hard and fast rules for making gumbo beyond the basic roux, okra, and your imagination. The most important part of the gumbo is to form a really dark, rich roux that you will use as a base. Without the right foundation, your Gumbo will be nothing more than a pot of boiled seafood and vegetables. I highly recommend you use a black iron skillet to make your roux. The weight and density of the iron allows the skillet to retain and evenly distribute the heat. I prefer crawfish gumbo, but you can substitute just about any seafood, such as shrimp, crabs, or scallops. I also like to spice my Gumbo up a bit using hot cherry peppers, but this is one of those dishes that you can add or subtract almost anything and it will still taste great.

Carefully remove the meat from the tail of the crawfish and store in refrigerator for use later. Place remaining heads and shells in large pot with 8 cups of water. Add quartered onion, quartered garlic, and split celery stalks. Place on high heat and bring to boil, and then reduce to simmer uncovered for at least 2 hours. Using a colander, separate solids from the stock and discard solids. Return stock to the pot. Add chicken broth as necessary to make at least 6 cups of liquid. Pre-heat a large heavy pan (preferably a cast iron skillet) on high heat. Add sausage and brown on all sides. Remove sausage and set aside, leaving grease from the sausage in the pan. Add oil. When oil starts to smoke, carefully add the flour while whisking it into the oil. Continue whisking until the roux turns dark brown (about 6-8 minutes). Add the chopped onion, chopped celery, bell pepper, minced garlic, and hot cherry peppers. Stir constantly until vegetables are softened and lightly browned (about 3-5 minutes). Add Creole mix, then deglaze with red wine, and reduce heat to simmer. Bring stock in pot to a boil, and then slowly add in the roux mix with vegetables. Stir thoroughly until all of the roux mix is absorbed by the stock, add the sausage, tomatoes, tomato paste, okra, thyme, bay leaves, tobacco sauce, and salt & pepper to taste. When Gumbo begins to boil, reduce heat to low and cook for at least one hour. Add the crawfish tails and lump crabmeat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Remove bay leaves. Serve in a bowl over white rice.