Boil meat in 1 1/2 quarts water until meat is tender. Debone. Return meat to meat stock. Add all other ingredients to meat and stock. Cook until vegetables are tender. Make roux. Place 1 Tbsp. oil and 1/4 c. flour in skillet. Stir until flour is medium brown (do not burn). You have to stir roux constantly or it will burn. Make roux on a med. to low temp. Add 1 pint of water to roux. Add roux to remaining gumbo. Add 2 Tbsp. file and more salt if necessary. If too thick, add water. You will have to adjust this recipe to your taste this is a basic Gumbo recipe. I change it all the time. You can add okra, tomatoes, other choices of meat, etc. You can wait and add the file after it is served over rice. That is a must. It must be served over rice. It should cook for atleast an hour or more, at a low temp. The longer it cooks the better, but i do recommend not over 2 hours. It's really good as left overs. The next day it always tastes better.