Crawfish Stew - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/4 c. butter or margarine
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. each: chopped onions and celery
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and diced
2 c. water
1 (14 1/2 to 16 oz.) can tomatoes, crushed
2 c. (8 oz.) crawfish tails
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen sliced okra
1 medium red or green pepper, chopped
1/4 c. chopped parsley
2 tsp. gumbo file powder
3 c. hot cooked rice

Preparation

Melt butter in a large heavy pot (iron preferred).
Blend flour and stir over medium-low heat until roux is dark brown.
Add onions, celery and jalapeno pepper; cook until tender and crisp. Stir in water, tomatoes, crawfish and seasonings. Simmer over medium heat 15 minutes.
Add okra, pepper and parsley.
Simmer until tender-crisp, about 10 minutes.
Stir in file powder.
Ladle stew into soup bowls.
Top each serving with 1/2 cup fluffy rice. Makes 6 servings.