This is not the average gumbo you'd make day-to-day. It's for very special occasions and celebrations! It's savory and full of complex flavors. Have plenty of rice to serve it over.

Ingredients:

10 to 12 Large Shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail-less

One 8 to 12 oz tub Crab Meat (whichever kind is available)

1/2 to 1 cup dry Sea or dry Bay Scallops

1/4 lb chunks Chuck or Stew Beef

2 whole Chicken Thighs, skin on, bone in.

1/4 lb Pork cubes, butt roast or blade steak for best flavors

1 chopped Red Bell Pepper, seeded

1 chopped Green Bell Pepper, seeded

1/2 to 1 chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green scallion onions, (reserved for table use)

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 link Andouille Sausage, sliced

3 cloves crushed, chopped garlic

2 Tablespoons dark roux (or more for a rich, dark soup)

2 tablespoons bacon drippings (or oil)

Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 tsp or more Cayenne or omit

1/2 tsp ground White Pepper

1 seeded, diced banana pepper or hot peppers

1 tsp Thyme

1/2 tsp Marjoram

1 tsp mild Paprika

Bay Leaf (1 to 3)

1/4 cup chopped fresh Parsley

1/2 to 1 cup dried Okra Slices (or dry them for 3-4 hours in the oven on lowest heat)

1/2 tsp Powdered Sage

About 1 quart water or broth, will need to add more liquid as it cooks down. If you want less soup, then add less liquids to simmer the gumbo in.

1 to 2 Tablespoons File' Gumbo Powder (added in the final 10 minutes of simmering. Do not boil File Gumbo Powder)

Use of bottled dark roux bought from the grocery store is easy! Some folks like a rich, dark gumbo soup. Others like a much lighter New Orleans style soup instead. So use the amount of roux you're pleased with. If you're already familiar with making Cajun roux, then go for it!

Heat up the bacon drippings in a deep stock pot on medium heat. Add the roux and stir to break it up and make a smooth soup starter. Add some oil if it's still too thick, it needs to be thin enough to coat a spoon, and drip off.

When the roux is hot, add the beef, chicken and pork, stir to coat in roux and sizzle till slightly browned. Seafood is added later. Add the Andouille Sausage slices. Stir to coat in roux.

Now add the garlic and veggies, and stir to coat them in roux. (Don't add okra yet, that goes in much later).

Sizzle that until the veggies look glossy, and slightly toasted here and there. Try not to overcook the veggies. Garlic can be left out until later if you prefer.

Add spices, herbs, salt and pepper. (Not the parsley just yet). Stir to coat everything in roux.

Take pot from heat. Once it stops sizzling, add enough water or broth to just cover the ingredients in the pot, give it a gentle stir. But don't stir too much, just move it all around for now.

Put pot back on high heat, bring to a brisk boil for ten minutes. (add garlic now if you left it out earlier). After it has boiled for 10 minutes, cover and turn down to a simmer until all the beef, pork and chicken is tender. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Once the beef, chicken and pork is tender (about an hour or so boiling, a bit longer if simmering), add in the dried okra and parsley. Simmer on low heat until the okra has rehydrated and is tender, but do not boil the okra.

Once the chicken is tender to your liking, it can be skinned, deboned and torn into chunks. It needs to cook with the skin and bone to give the gumbo full flavors and produce the best stock.

Add the seafoods at this time, simmer until just done. The heat in the pot will continue to cook them. It's important not to overcook the seafood.

Before serving, add the File' Gumbo Powder and stir in well, simmer for about 10 minutes, do not boil. Boiling File' Gumbo Powder turns the gumbo soup as viscous as boiled okra would. Serve after adding the File' Gumbo Powder.

Serve over cooked white rice. Have File' Gumbo powder at the table for those who want to add more to their gumbo. Sprinkle some over the rice, then ladle gumbo over that.

This tastes much better the next day. Leftover gumbo (If there is any) will go great with red beans and rice, dirty rice, or toasted boudan sausages. By itself, it's a whole meal.

The above measures aren't exacting, this can be customized in countless ways. Build your gumbo to your liking. There is never only one gumbo recipe. They're all different.

A Note On Okra:

Fresh okra will cook out a viscous juice, especially if boiled. To prevent this, use dried or freeze dried okra slices.

To dry okra, put one layer of okra slices on a lightly oiled flat pan or oiled rack. Leave the oven on lowest heat setting. It will take about 3 hours to dry the okra slices, so begin the okra drying long before cooking the gumbo.

This can be done the day before, or any time in advance, then frozen for when it's needed. This is how my old folks did it.