Chicken Gumbo - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 chicken, cut up
5 Tbsp. flour
5 Tbsp. shortening
1 c. onion, celery and green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 clove garlic
2 bay leaves (very important)
salt and pepper to taste
few sprinkles of powdered file

Preparation

Make roux by slowly browning flour in shortening.
When golden brown, add onion, celery, garlic and pepper.
Cook at low heat until vegetables separate from fat.
Brown chicken in some extra shortening, using enough to sear chicken well.
Add chicken to roux mixture and cook together for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour off fat in which chicken was browned, leaving drippings at the bottom.
To this, add water and bring to a boil.
Pour over chicken, adding enough extra boiling water to cook the chicken tender and to give gumbo the desired consistency.
Add bay leaves.