Recipe of the week: GUMBO!

So I have always hated Gumbo. Never been a fan. That is until I started hanging around Jeremy's family. See, I never realized that there was a tomato sauce based gumbo. I just thought all gumbo was rue-based. I was wrong. My mother-in-law, Debbie, made this one night a few months after we had been married and I loved it. I loved it so much that I got the recipe from her and made it later that week! Its such a simple recipe but the gumbo has such big and bold flavors that people will think you have really been slavin' all day to make this. 

What you need:

1/2 onion, chopped

2-3 pieces of bacon, chopped

1 small bag of frozen cut okra

2 T Worcestershire 

1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)

1 cup water

1 cup ketchup

1/2 lb shrimp (you can do more if you love shrimp but I am not a huge fan. Jeremy loves it though so I put enough in to please him :)

Salt & Pepper to taste

I add in a few dashes of hot sauce but you can leave that out if you don't like heat! :)

What you do:

Chop your onion & bacon up. Heat about a teaspoon of oil in your pot and then saute your onion & bacon until tender. The bacon doesn't need to get crispy. It will cook completely thru during the simmering process at the end.

Add in the okra and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in tomato sauce, ketchup, water, Worcestershire, shrimp, salt & pepper. Cover and let simmer for up to an hour. 

I serve over white rice and Jeremy likes to eat it with Ritz crackers. Enjoy!