Jambalaya

Somewhere in the awkward mess that we all agree to call my life, I decided I was meant to be Southern. I don’t have a drop of Southern blood in my veins, but ya’ll I want to be Southern. When I was younger, it wasn’t about the food*, or the hospitality. And as terrible as this sounds, I loved the idea of sitting on a pre-Civil War plantation fanning myself someone else fanning me while sitting on the porch drinking sweet tea.

You guys, I want to be Scarlett O’Hara. I will always and forever want to be Scarlett. I will never ever be Melanie.

I've been infatuated with Gone With the Wind since fourth grade. My love of GWTW has existed longer than my love of Harry Potter. Also, my goal of becoming Southern is much more attainable than becoming a wizard. What I'm saying is I've been slighlty obsessed. I went to Margarent Mitchell's house. I've walked around holding a hula hoop around my hips to see if I could handle wearing hoop skirts.

Since reading GWTW, my obsession with all things south of the Mason Dixon line has grown tenfold.

For most of my life, I so very badly wanted to go to New Orleans. I’d been to Atlanta, and it was definitely NOT the charming beacon of the South I expected** so my expectations for NOLA were low. I figured the food would be good, but it was post-Katrina (2006). I figured I would wander around the city eating amazing food and looking at homes that were built over 100 years ago.

I did neither.

Maybe I set my standards too high. Maybe New Orleans wasn’t back on its feet. Maybe the conference I was attending should have let us eat a meal outside of the hotel because banquet food is gross no matter where you are. Maybe I drank too much at night, and my taste buds weren’t awake after two hours of sleep. Really, who’s to say?

To this day, the best Cajun*** food I have had has been found outside of New Orleans. Take for example, my mom’s jambalaya. Until last year, she had never been to New Orleans, but she has been making this for years. I do believe she adapted it from none other than Paul Prudhomme, so it has some authenticity. If you’ve ever had jambalaya down South, you may notice that her’s is fairly loose, more like a soup. That’s how we like it, but if you like it thicker, cook the rice in the jambalaya. If you’ve only ordered jambalaya at a restaurant above the Mason Dixon line, chances are it was served over pasta. That is wrong. If my mom finds out you served her jambalaya over pasta she will hunt you down. Don’t risk it. Serve it over rice.

If you’ve never had jambalaya, think of it as a spicy, meaty, extra thick soup. Its perfect for a cold night, and you can feed a ton of people with it for relatively cheap.

With a beer? Be still my heart. Ya'll go make this, and amaze people with your Southern charm and hospitatly.

*It is now. Have you ever seen a Southern party without a ton of delicious, calories laden, butter covered food? No.

**I'm still optimistic about Charleston and Savannah

***I know Cajun food and Southern food are technically different, but I think all Cajun food is southern, but not all Southern food is Cajun. Not right? Tough luck. I needed this thing to somehow tie together.

Jambalaya Recipe (printable)
Inspired by several recipes from Paul Prudhomme

This recipe is very adaptable. Don’t like shrimp? Leave it out and add more chicken and sausage. Don’t eat pork? Use chicken andouille and leave out the ham. If you want this thicker, you can double all of the proteins and/or cook the rice in the jambalaya. Your call, but I think its perfect as is.

Final note, if you use a pork andouille, brown it first, see how much fat it renders, then add more fat if needed. If you use chicken andouille you will need to use the bacon fat or olive oil.

1 tablespoon bacon fat or olive oil (optional, see note above)
8 ounces andouille sausage, sliced 1/4” thick.
8 ounces tasso ham or ham steak, cubed 1/2”
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
12 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cups diced onion
3 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
6 cups diced celery
4 cups diced bell peppers (green is traditional, but we usually use a mix of red, green and yellow)
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
2 14 ounce cans chicken stock

1 recipe Cajun Spice Mix (see below)
1 tablespoon liquid smoke (only needed if using ham steak. Not so much for tasso)

1 cup dry rice, cooked according to package instructions or added to jambalaya

Heat a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the bacon fat and allow to melt. Brown the andouille sausage and remove to a bowl. Brown the ham and remove. Add the chicken to the dutch oven and cook until it is cooked thru. Add all of the vegetables and cook until softened, 7-10 minutes. Return the andouille and ham to the pot. Add all of the seasoning mix and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the stock and tomatoes. If you are using the liquid smoke, add it now.

Reduce the heat so the jambalaya is at a gentle simmer. Taste for seasonings. Add more cayenne, salt, and pepper as needed. (If you’re cooking the rice in the jambalaya, add it now.) Cook for 15 minutes. Add the the shrimp and turn off the heat. Allow to sit, covered for 10 minutes or until the shrimp and rice are cooked.

To serve, spoon 1/2 cup cooked rice into the bottom of a large bowl and ladle the jambalaya on top.

Cajun Spice Mix

1 teaspoon cayenne (add more if you like it hotter, but check your andouille first)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Comments

[Jennie (the gf-gf)]

I've been pretty smitten with southern food lately, too, even though I live in Seattle and have never actually been to the south :-) What can I say, I love bacon!!

Anyways, I'm bookmarking your recipe - looks delicious!

[Deanna]

Jennie-I should add that it is the perfect food for the Super Bowl. I would love to live in the South someday, but humidity scares me.

[Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella]

At the risk of sounding mad, I actually do think that I was Southern in a past life! I adore their food (politics, errm not so much ;) ).

[Deanna]

Lorraine-I'm always worried people are going to think I want slaves when I say I want to Scarlett O'hara. I don't. I swear.

[Jenny @ Ichigo Shortcake]

This dish looks very colourful and fresh. I'd eat that even in this 30something degree heat. :D

[Norma Chang]

I like your mother's way of cooking the jambalaya and the rice separately, much better.

[T R Black]

"Cans" of chicken stock? What's wrong with your homemade stock? "Cans?" Otherwise, it sounds like a fine dish. Your mom is probably a fine dish, as well. Don't tell your dad I said so...

[Deanna]

TR-we save homemade stock for recipes where it's a major component. There's so much going on in this you could probably use water.

[Pot Sets]

Wow! Your finished dish looks incredibly delicious. I am in favor of your idea of making & serving the rice separately with the jambalaya ladled on top. All jambalaya that I have ever eaten was cooked with rice & have been somewhat of a disappointment...the rice was either too gooey or crunchy for not being cooked enough...so I have never attempted to make it. I very much like your recipe of all ingredients with your suggested variations. I have printed your version & will attempt to try out my cooking skills with your Jambalaya recipe.

[Erick]

The owner, Trey, is from as close to Cajun country as you can get, wtiohut going West of I-10, and worked for a bit at Galatoire’s, one of the oldest and most influential New Orleans restaurants.Trey’s offerings, in my opinion (and I value my opinion VERY highly), are well thought out, carefully executed, and are as good as any you’ll find in this genre anywhere in Portland. We had the crawfish pies, and the etoufee, and both were spot on for ingredients, flavor, and execution.I'll be back!

[Mohammad]

I finally got arnoud to trying this, and it turned out fantastic! My roomate who was studying in her bedroom came out because the kitchen "smelled so amazing", and insisted on trying some of the finished product. I was able to buy some Cajun Spice Blend at my grocery store for $1.29 and substituted that plus hot chili powder for the cayenne pepper. I also added some garlic powder in addition to the fresh garlic, as well as some Sriracha hot chili sauce for extra zing. I only had about four chicken tenders in my freezer (probably about 1/2lb or less), so I used that plus the full pound of smoked sausage and it still had plenty of meat! I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!

[Jake]

Made this last night, really great reicpe!I used 2.5c jasmine rice and a little more than 4c chicken broth instead of water, also upped the cayenne and added 1/2tsp dried thyme before simmering, it came out fantastic! Instead of cooked chicken, I browned some chicken thighs before adding the sausage, let them cook whole during the simmering, then shredded them before serving. One pot reicpe, super easy, tons of servings, and delicious. Thanks!

[Webster]

I've been messing arnuod with jambalaya for a while now and I have to say that I like this recipe much more than anything I've tried to make. I went ahead and chopped my own veggies and used celery that I have frozen in the freezer. For some reason, I forgot to add the garlic, but the flavors from everything else made up for it. Nice recipe.