St. Joe’s gumbo feeds the masses

Gumbo is a great contribution to American cuisine. Each pot tells its own story.

Every Friday during Lent, the aroma of seafood gumbo, made with fresh shrimp, crabmeat and okra, wafts from the St. Joseph Co-Cathedral kitchen on Canal Boulevard in Thibodaux.

St. Joseph’s Lenten Gumbo Gang serves up nearly 650 bowls, among other foods, to mostly Catholics who forego meat during Lent. The women of St. Joseph’s started the annual feast 18 years ago to raise money for local food banks.

“It was fantastic,” said Margaret Orgeron, who heads the potato salad-making group. “Everyone is always willing to help us out with this project. The parishioners and the community are so supportive.”

The first year generated only $200, but the total averages $3,800 a week today.

In 1995, five years into the program, St. Joseph’s men joined the Gumbo Gang as the cooks. Before that, local restaurants supplied the gumbo. Moving the preparation in-house immediately proved to be a benefit.

“We were spending too much money contracting gumbo out,” said coordinator Jimmy Labit. “The guys began brewing the gumbo.”

Labit took on the gumbo-making task alone for a couple of years, until a better cook came along. Retired Lafourche Parish educator David Breaux has been doing the cooking – three pots each Friday – since 1998. “He’s a much better cook than I am,” Labit joked.

“When the ladies started it, they envisioned having a fundraiser to raise money for the local food banks,” he said. “The community is really supporting the fundraiser and that is what makes it a great success.”

St. Joseph Lenten Gumbo

Ingredients:

10 one-gallon bags of chopped celery

2 one-gallon bags of chopped bell peppers

2 one-gallon bags of chopped yellow onions

60 pounds of cut okra

55 pounds of parboiled rice

1/2 box of salt

120 pounds of shrimp

24 pounds of crabmeat

8 pounds of all-purpose flour

1 gallon of cooking oil

44 ounces of Louisiana Hot Sauce

8 ounces of Tabasco sauce

8 pounds of seafood base

(2) 20-gallon pots

(1) 30-gallon pot

Directions

Day 1 – Defrost shrimp and take off any peelings. Make roux in heavy pot. Use 8 pounds of flour and 1 gallon of cooking oil. Darken roux until chocolate in color. Cook okra in heavy-duty oven roaster. Do not overcook.

Day 2 – Light burner, set on moderate heat. Put two gallons of water in each pot. Add roux. Bring to a boil for about 20 minutes. Divide yellow onions, celery and bell peppers in each pot and bring to a boil for about 20 minutes. Add water to halfway level in each pot. Remember to leave room for okra, shrimp and crabmeat. Add okra and green onions, and bring to a slow boil. Add shrimp and crabmeat 1 hour before serving time. Add Louisiana Hot Sauce and Tabasco sauce to each pot. Last add two large serving spoons of salt to each pot. (Serves 600)

St. Joseph Lenten Potato Salad

Ingredients:

10 pounds of red potatoes (boiled)

1 dozen eggs (boiled)

1 quart of mayonnaise

1/2 pint of yellow mustard

1/2 pint of sweet relish

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Mash potatoes and chop eggs, then mix. Add mayonnaise, mustard and sweet relish, then mix. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Aunt Winnie’s Syrup Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups of Steen’s 100% Pure Cane Syrup

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 cup of butter (2 sticks)

1 1/2 teaspoons of allspice

1 teaspoon of ground cloves

5 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven at 375 degrees. Put the syrup in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the baking soda and beat until the mixture is golden. Set aside. Cream the sugar and butter together. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between each addition. Alternate the flour and spices with the milk. Add the syrup mixture, and nuts. Stir to mix. Drop spoonfuls on a cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown for about 10 minutes.

Gumbo Gang members Bubba Breaux and Bob Schexnayder say the trick to a tasty gumbo is to keep the roux moving. Never let any of the ingredients settle.