Andouille Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo

           "Food for the body is not enough, there must be food for the soul."

Gumbo is food for the soul, nothing like a loaded soup on a cold friday night. I went to Pappadeaux for dinner early in october and my mum had always been raving about how good their gumbo is. I tried the andouille sausage and shrimp gumbo and fell in love right there and from then, I knew Gumbo was on my to cook list.

I found this very easy recipe online and tweaked it a little with some substitutes to make it more spicy and a little bit more flavored so I hope you like it. 

• 
  Ingredients
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano,
• 1 teaspoon dried ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon Oxtail seasoning or whatever seasoning makes you tingle. 
• 1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained, chopped
• 1 pound smoked andouille  sausage, sliced
• 1/2 pound okra, trimmed, thick slices

• 2 pounds uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined

You can add a cup of cooked long grain rice if you'd like but I didn't.

• Heat oil on high heat until almost smoking. 
• Add flour and stir until dark red-brown, about 5 minutes. 
• Immediately add celery, onions and bell peppers. Cook 5 minutes, stirring and scraping bottom of pan often. 
• Mix in bay leaves, salt, oregano and cayenne. 
• Add clam juice, canned tomatoes and sausage. Boil 8 minutes. 
• Add okra, reduce heat and simmer until okra is tender, about 10 minutes. 
• Add shrimp to gumbo and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. 

I always try to have someone taste my dishes, and my friend loved it so hey I'm doing something right. ;)