Chicken sausage gumbo

yummy yummy in my tummy!  a good bowl of chicken and suasage gumbo with some nice hot bread on a cold wintery day -- doesnt get much better than this!  i can remember eating this at one of my parents' friends home when i really young.  i called them Aunt and Uncle, even thought they were just my parents' fishing friends.  They lived in New Orleans and were bigggg seafood fans, as were all of us.  Aunt Terrys gumbo would have large tender shrimp and big hunks of crab meat in the gumbo -- it was delicious every time!  and then we would have lobster for the main course -- wow i so loved to go to their house!  Since i have become allergic to seafood, i make it now with chicken and sausage which is still very good -- but not quite as delicious as the real deal!  simple to make once you know how.

melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed pot.  using equal parts butter and flour, make your roux. when the roux has reached a dark brown color, add the onion, bell pepper and celery (aka the Holy Trinity) .  add some salt, some pepper and saute all the vegetables for about 5 minutes.  stir frequently so that they dont burn.  add some chicken broth slowly, constantly stirring -   you will know when you have enough by how thick or thin your gravy is.  if you want a thinner roux, add more stock - if you want thicker gravy, add less stock.  season with  salt, more pepper and the Tony Chacheres.  bring to a boil and immediately lower heat to a simmer.  add sausage, chicken, tomatoes and okra.  simmer about half an hour -- adding stock , if needed.  serve in a bowl with a scoop of cooked white rice.