Mom’s Chicken and Okra Gumbo

From Mom’s recipe card.

Ingredients:

1 Fryer (cut up)

2 onions, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 lbs okra, cut up (fresh, frozen, or canned)

4 tbsp oil

4 tbsp flour

1 tbsp tomato paste

3 quarts boiling water

Preparation:

Chop all the vegetables first.

Make a roux with the flour and oil.
(Stir over medium fire in a heavy dutch oven
until the color of dark chocolate – don’t let it burn!)

When the roux reaches the right color, dump the onions, celery, and garlic in (to stop the roux from burning) and stir occasionally until the onions are soft and clear.

Add okra at this point and continue to stir often until the okra is brown looking and no longer slimy.

Add tomato paste and stir.

Add boiling water slowly and stirring as you pour.

In a skillet brown the cut-up fryer which is seasoned with salt and pepper in just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

Add browned chicken to the gumbo – put about 1 cup of the Gumbo liquid into the skillet to get up the chicken juices, then pour back into the gumbo pot.

When the whole mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes.

Correct the seasonings to taste and serve over rice.

Freezes well.