Gumbo Filé

Ingredients

• 6 live small hard-shelled crabs or ½ pound lump crabmeat, picked over
• ¼ cup vegetables shortening
• 2 rounded tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 1 pound okra, rinsed, trimmed, and sliced thin
• ½ cup chopped ham
• a 14- to 16-ounce can tomatoes including the juice
• + 9 more ingredients
• • 2 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced and mashed to a paste with ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 6 parsley sprigs
  • 1 thyme sprig
  • 2 tablespoons chopped celery leaves
  • ¾ pound medium shrimp, shelled
  • cayenne to taste
  • 1 tablespoon filé powder (available at some specialty foods shops)

1. In a kettle blanch the crabs in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain them, and let them cool until they can be handled. Discard the top shells, the aprons, the gills, the sand sacs, and the mouths and reserve the crabs. 2. In a heavy skillet, preferably cast-iron, melt the shortening over moder...

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