Delicious Gumbo

 Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 pound chicken thighs chopped - chicken breast is good too
• Seasoned Salt and pepper to taste (I use 1 teaspoon each) not combined.
• 12 ounces andouille or smoked sausage sliced into ¼ inch slices
• ½ cup  oil or vegetable oil
• ½ cup flour
• 1 medium bell pepper chopped
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 medium celery stalk chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 cup okra I used frozen
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning or more to taste
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 tablespoons chopped parsley + more for serving
• 1 tablespoon filé powder or to taste if desired ( see below)
• For Serving: Cooked white rice if desired

Instructions

• Heat a pan to medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil and heat.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pan along with the sliced andouille. Cook a couple minutes per side until browned. Set aside until ready to use.
• Add ½ cup oil to a large pot and heat to medium heat. Add flour and stir. Cook for 20-30 minutes, constantly stirring, until the roux browns to the color of chocolate. 
• Add peppers, onion, celery and garlic. Stir and cook about 5 minutes.
• Add chicken and andouille. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
• Add okra, is (optional)Cajun seasoning and chicken stock. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom.
  
• Add bay leaves and cook at medium-low heat for 1 hour to thicken. You can simmer longer if you’d like. Taste and adjust for salt.
  
• Stir in parsley and cook 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in filé powder, if using. I don’t use a file powder. A file powder is used to thicken.
• Serve into a bowl, over white rice if desired, and garnish with extra parsley.

I did not buy a gumbo file . 

What I did was mix 1/2 cup of flour  1/2 cup of cold water and whisk very well to make sit there were no lumps and added it to my gumbo, then I adjusted the seasonings . But taste it first.