For Lucy Buffett, life’s a beach

• 3 pounds medium wild-caught Gulf shrimp, heads on
• 2 pounds cooked blue crab claw meat, picked through for shell, handled carefully to keep the meat in big chunks
• 4 large, ripe tomatoes, or 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes with their juices
•  3/4 cup vegetable oil or bacon grease
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
• 1 bunch celery, coarsely chopped, including leaves
• 2 green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
• 8 cups shrimp or seafood stock, heated
• 2 to 3 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons LuLu’s Crazy Creola Seasoning (recipe follows), or other Creole seasoning
• 1/4 cup hot sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 4 blue crab bodies, if available (optional)
• 2 1/2 pounds fresh okra, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces, or thawed frozen cut okra
• 2 cups finely chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• Cooked white rice, for serving
• French bread and butter, for serving

1. Peel and devein the shrimp. (If you’re making your own stock, reserve the heads and shells to make the stock.) Refrigerate the shrimp and crabmeat until ready to use.

2. If using fresh tomatoes, fill a medium saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Carefully drop the tomatoes into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and let them cool. The skins will slip off easily. Remove the cores and coarsely chop the tomatoes over a bowl to retain as much juice as possible. Set aside. (If using canned tomatoes, chop each tomato into eighths and return them to the juice in the can.)

3. To make the roux, in a large stockpot (about 10 quarts), heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, gradually add the flour, whisking continuously, and cook, stirring and adjusting the heat as necessary to keep it from burning, until the roux is a dark mahogany color, 25 to 35 minutes. Be careful: If the roux burns, you will have to start all over again!

4. Carefully add the onions to the roux and stir with a large wooden spoon for 2 to 3 minutes. (The onion will sizzle and steam when it hits the hot roux, so caution is advised. All seasoned gumbo cooks have roux battle scars on one or both arms.)

5. Add the celery and cook, stirring continuously, for 2 to 3 minutes.

6. Add the bell peppers and cook, stirring continuously, for 2 to 3 minutes more. The mixture should resemble a pot of black beans in color and texture.

7. Add the heated stock and the tomatoes with their juices. Stir in the salt, black pepper, cayenne, thyme, bay leaves, oregano, basil, Creole seasoning, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir well. Bring the gumbo to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer. Add the crab bodies (if using) and simmer, uncovered, for about 1 hour.

8. Add the okra and bring the gumbo to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until the okra has lost its bright green color and cooked down like the other vegetables. If the gumbo gets too thick, add a little water. If it is too thin, continue to simmer it, uncovered.

9. Gumbo is always better the day after it has been cooked, although I’ve never had a complaint when I served it the day I made it. At this point, you can cool the gumbo. Turn off the heat and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Then place the pot, uncovered, in an empty sink. Fill the sink with cold water and ice around the stockpot (try not to get any in the stockpot itself). Stir every 15 minutes to facilitate cooling. (The gumbo will spoil if improperly cooled.) When completely cool, refrigerate the gumbo in the stockpot, uncovered.

10. When ready to serve, slowly bring the gumbo to a simmer over medium-low heat. Thirty minutes before serving, add the green onion, parsley and lemon juice to the gumbo. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add the shrimp and crabmeat, mix well, and cook for 2 minutes. Cover and turn off the heat.

Let it sit for at least 15 minutes more to cook the seafood. The gumbo will stay hot for a long time. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Taste and adjust the seasonings; serve over cooked white rice with French bread and butter.

• 1  1/2 pounds sushi-grade tuna
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 egg white, slightly beaten
• Organic olive oil cooking spray
• 4 buns (optional)
• Wasabi mayonnaise (recipe follows), for serving
• Pickled red onions (recipe follows), for serving
• Soy-soaked cukes (recipe follows), for serving

1. Pulse the tuna in a food processor until it is the consistency of ground beef.

2. Remove any stringy fat or membrane from the meat.

3. In a large bowl, combine the meat, ginger, garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper, and egg white and form the mixture into patties.

4. Place the patties on a sheet of waxed paper and refrigerate for half an hour.

5. Coat a grill pan with olive oil spray. Heat the pan over high heat. Once the pan is hot, cook the patties for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, according to your desired doneness. Serve the burgers on buns — or without buns — spread with wasabi mayo, and top with pickled red onions and soy-soaked cukes.

Pickled red onions:

• 2 red onions
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

1. Slice the onions very thinly by hand or using a mandoline.

2. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Place the onions in the boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and set aside.

3. In the same saucepan, bring the vinegar to a boil.

4. Add the onion, salt, and sugar and boil for 1 minute.

5. Remove from the heat and let cool. The onion will be a pretty pink color.

6. Pour the onion slices into a jar and refrigerate until ready to use. The onion will keep up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

Soy-soaked cukes:

•  1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
• 1 seedless cucumber, thinly sliced

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil.

2. Add the chili powder and garlic and whisk to combine. Pour the liquid into a 1-quart jar.

3. Add the cucumber slices to the jar, shake, and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Wasabi mayonnaise:

Makes about 1  1/2 cups

• 3 tablespoons dry wasabi powder
• 1  1/2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1. Mix the wasabi powder with just enough of the water to form a paste.

2. In a food processor, combine the wasabi paste, mayonnaise, lime juice, soy sauce, and salt. Pulse together until thoroughly combined.

3. Add the cilantro and continue to pulse until thoroughly combined and light green in color.

4. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to serve. Serve chilled.

Nutritional analysis per serving: xxx

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“Gumbo Love,” by Lucy Buffett

• Kosher salt, for rimming the glass (optional)
• 1 orange, cut into thick wedges
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 2 ounces Patron Anejo tequila
•  1/2 ounce Patron Citronge lime liqueur
• 5 to 6 ounces soda water

1. Salt the rim of the glass, if desired.

2. Put 4 orange wedges and 2 lime wedges into a metal cocktail shaker. Add the tequila and lime liqueur.

3. Muddle gently, avoiding the rinds, which can add a bitter taste.

4. Add a small scoop of ice and the soda water to the shaker. Pour back and forth between the shaker and a large mixing glass a few times.

5. Pour the margarita into the salted (if using) serving glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Nutritional analysis per serving: xxx

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“Gumbo Love,” by Lucy Buffett

• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons granulated garlic or garlic powder
• 4 teaspoons granulated onion or onion powder
•  1/4 cup paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Combine all the ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Nutritional analysis per serving: xxx

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“Gumbo Love,” by Lucy Buffett