Shrimp gumbo and Paula Deen

Have I mentioned yet that Paula Deen is my favorite personality on The Food Network?? I hesitate to call her a chef because she is not professionally trained but I think of her as more than a cook. I have several of her cook books and love watching her show. Her food is always wonderful and she reminds me so much of my favorite Aunt Marilyn. Paula's food reminds me of the food I grew up (and out) on...a lot of butter and love go into every recipe.
Neal spent some of his teen years in Louisiana and loves gumbo so I have searched for the perfect recipe to please him. I finally one in Paula's The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook. It's actually called Shrimp Gumbo Casserole and I loosely based my recipe on it. We don't care for celery so I leave that out and I don't have all the spices called for so those get replaced by Old Bay seasoning. The lemon pepper seasoning adds such a good flavor to this dish. Instead of making the cornbread on top of the gumbo, I make it in a separate pan. We always have so much left over that I don't want it to get mushy on top. Let me tell you that this gumbo is so good for leftovers! By the 2nd day the flavors are wonderful. Here's a few pictures from the last time I made it.


I didn't get a picture of it finished because I had to rush off to the rodeo before it was completely finished. Neal gave it a thumbs up though!