Chicken and Okra Gumbo

PREPARATION: Peel and chop the tomatoes. Chop the onions, green onions, bell pepper, and parsley. Cut the okra into thin slices. Cut chicken into pieces, and set aside the fat from the cavity. Sprinkle chicken with 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon of the cayenne pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of the white pepper. COOKING: Put the reserved fat in a heavy pot and cook over medium heat until the fat is rendered. Add the chicken and cook until browned. Transfer to a platter. Add the okra, onions (not green onion), tomatoes, and bell pepper to the pan and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Add chicken stock, cover, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until tender, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in a small pan. When oil is very hot, but not smoking, whisk in the 2 tablespoons of flour, reduce the heat to low, and continue whisking the roux until it turns a dark chocolate brown color, about 5 minutes. Add the roux to the vegetables and stock and cook, uncovered, 30 minutes. Add the chicken, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and remaining cayenne and white peppers and continue to cook, stirring often, until chicken is tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour more. Stir in the green onion and parsley and simmer 5 minutes longer. Gumbo can be made several days ahead and reheated before serving. Serves 6-8 NOTES : Classic Cajun stew built on an onion-tomato-green pepper base. Probably no dish is more representative of Cajun cooking than gumbo. Recipe by: Cooks Magazine November 1987 Posted to recipelu-digest Volume 01 Number 581 by "catspaw@inetnow.net" <catspaw@inetnow.net> on Jan 23, 1998