Caveman Gumbo (AKA Texas Dirty Dishwater)

Ah, cajun cookin’. There’s nothing better than a steaming hot bowl of brown goodness, brimming with sea creatures and creole spices. This recipe is a paleo adaptation that tastes like heaven and will have all your co-workers getting jealous of your superior lunch. Despite its semi-long ingredients list, the soup doesn’t take terribly long to made and is worth every second spent by the stove. Don’t have bacon grease? Well then FRY UP SOME BACON. You can then crumble it up and save it to toss into a salad/eggs/other recipe later. Seriously, don’t substitute the bacon grease – it just won’t taste right.

Recipe inspired by:

Caveman Gumbo

By Julie Published: February 22, 2012

Yield: Pot-full (4-6 Servings)
Prep: 25 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Ready In: 55 mins

Here in the Bayou City (aka Houston, TX), gumbo is known as Texas Dirty Dishwater. This recipe tastes and smells so amazing, that I had professors turn around and ask me what I was eating at a seminar.

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower riced/shredded
1/4 cup bacon grease
3 tbsp coconut flour
3 tbsp almond flour
2 cups onions chopped
2 cups celery chopped
2 cups green pepper chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
2 28oz can tomatoes diced
2 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1/2 lb lump crab meat check for shells!
1 lb shrimp
1 lb andouille sausage sliced
1 tbsp filé powder

Instructions

Wash your cauliflower, tear the leaves off, grab a grater and shred that head. I use the side with the larger holes for nice, large 'grains' of cauliflower 'rice'. You can do this step at any point during the recipe, but in the interest of time I recommend doing it either before you start messing with hot stoves or after you've thrown the meat into the pot. You're the chef - you do what you think is right.
Onto cooking! First we need to make the roux, aka gooey brown deliciousness. Grab a big pot, crank the stove to medium heat, and throw in your bacon grease. Once melted, whisk in the coconut and almond flour and stir continuously until the roux becomes a rich dark brown and your kitchen smells heavenly. DO NOT STOP STIRRING OR TURN THE HEAT UP or you run the risk of creating a pot full of what vaguely resembles charcoal and sets off your fire alarm.
Throw in garlic, onions, celery, and peppers. Saute until the onions are translucent and celery softens a bit.
Add your tomatoes, stock, and bay leaves. Crank the heat up to medium-high and bring that pot of goodness to a simmer.
Throw in crab, shrimp and sausage. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the shrimp is thoroughly cooked.
Remove from heat and stir in filé powder. Do not be tempted to just throw filé powder in willy-nilly at an earlier step. Sassafras has magical thickening powers that work best when taken off the heat. Impress your dinner guests by telling them you cooked with sassafras.
Serve with riced cauliflower and a southern accent.
NOTE: This recipe freezes/saves well in jars.