Jumbalaya

Ingredients:

1 stick salted butter 

1/2 cup flour 

1 onion diced

2 stalks celery diced 

1 bell pepper diced 

2 cloves of garlic minced 

3 bay leaves 

1 tsp. oregano

1 tbs. old bay seasoning 

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper 

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. smoked paprika 

4 cups seafood stock

1/2 jar clam juice

1/4 cup white wine

1 lb. andouille sausage sliced

1 ham steak cubed 

2 cups water

1 cup long grain white rice 

1 lb. peeled deveined shrimp

1/2 lb. mussels 

1 tbs. gumbo file

Directions: 

Dice onion, celery, and bell pepper and mince garlic, set aside. In large Dutch oven melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir well to form a paste. Continue to cook rue until golden in color (medium golden to dark golden) this will take several minutes. If the paste gets too thick you can add a dash of olive oil. Once the rue has reached a dark golden color, add in the diced onion, celery, and bell pepper, stirring almost continually, cook until the vegetables start to soften and release their juices. At this point you can add in the garlic and cook additional 2 minutes. Add in the 4 cups of seafood stock, clam juice, and wine. Turning up heat and stirring constantly bring to a boil. Add old bay, oregano, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir well and boil until starts to thicken, reduce heat to a simmer and toss in bay leaves and cover. In separate skillet brown the ham steak and the sliced sausage in a little olive oil until it gets a little color. Add cubed ham and sliced sausage to the broth along with any juices from the pan and stir well. Continue to simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let it sit and season for about 2 hours.  Taste the broth and add additional cayenne or old bay or salt if needed. Add 2 cups of water and 1 cup of rice. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cover for 20 minutes. Add shrimp and mussels, return to boil and then reduce to simmer for 10-15 minutes being careful not to overcook the shrimp. Stir in gumbo file at the very end. Serve with a good warm crusty loaf of French bread and Tabasco sauce. I like mine with a bit more rice so I make extra rice to serve on the side.