Crawfish Stew

Ingredients

• 14 c butter or margarine
• 13 c all-purpose flour
• 1 c each chopped onions and celery
• 1 jalapeno pepper seeded deveined and diced
• 2 c water
• 1 14 12 to 16 oz can tomatoes crushed
• 2 c 8 oz crawfish tails
• 1 12 tsp salt
• 14 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 10 oz pkg frozen sliced okra
• 1 medium red or green pepper chopped
• 14 c chopped parsley
• 2 tsp gumbo file powder
• 3 c hot cooked rice

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large heavy pot iron preferred
2. Blend flour and stir over medium-low heat until roux is dark brown
3. Add onions celery and jalapeno pepper cook until tender and crisp Stir in water tomatoes crawfish and seasonings Simmer over medium heat 15 minutes
4. Add okra pepper and parsley
5. Simmer until tender-crisp about 10 minutes
6. Stir in file powder
7. Ladle stew into soup bowls
8. Top each serving with 12 cup fluffy rice Makes 6 servings