Boil the chicken in the 8 quarts of water, remove, cool and bone the chicken. Be sure to save the broth. Cut sausage into rings and brown either in the oven or in pot. Chop all the veggies.
Now make your roux (see below). When it gets to the right color, immediately add celery and onions and cook until wilted, stirring constantly. Slowly add broth, stirring continuously. When this is all together, add chicken, sausage and other ingredients and cook for about 3 hours over medium to low heat.
Serve over hot rice topped with fresh green onions. In Louisiana, they like to serve potato salad as a side dish and, of course, hot-toasted French bread.