Recipe for Jambalya
Sharon McKnight SPHR
737 Posts
Anyone have a good recipe for jambalaya? My daughter asked me to make it for her and I can't find my recipe.
Sharon
Sharon
Comments
Sharon[/quote]
Sure, go get the boxed Zatarian's and start adding sausage, chicken, shrimp, etc. There is something to be said for easy:D
If you cannot find andouille sausage, either chorizo or linguiça can be sustituted. For a spicier jambalaya, you can add 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne along with the vegetables, and/or serve it with Tabasco.
Ingredients
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds), trimmed of excess skin and fat
Table salt and ground black pepper
5 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound andouille sausage , halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium onion , chopped medium
1 medium red bell pepper , stemmed, seeded, and chopped medium
5 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes , drained
1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound large shrimp (31 to 40 count), peeled, deveined, and rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
1. Dry the chicken thoroughly with paper towels, then season generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Carefully lay the chicken thighs in the skillet, skin-side down, and cook until golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip the chicken over and continue to cook until the second side is golden, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the chicken to a plate. Using paper towels, remove and discard the browned chicken skin.
2. Pour off all but 2 teaspoons of the fat left in the skillet and return to medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the andouille and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes, transfer the sausage to a small bowl and set aside.
3. Add the remaining 3 teaspoons oil to the skillet and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook until the edges turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, clam juice, and chicken broth; bring to a simmer. Gently nestle the chicken into the rice. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the chicken is tender and cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes.
4. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Stir the shrimp and sausage into the rice and continue to cook, covered, over low heat for 2 more minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and let stand, covered, until the shrimp are fully cooked and the rice is tender, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, following the illustration below, shred the chicken using two forks. Stir the parsley and shredded chicken into the rice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Te recipe may sound gross and I will admit that it's messy to make, but it is so delicious. Even if you don't particularly like rice, it is fantastic. Now, I'm getting hungry.
Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Wait, what? I was coming here to get the recipe and just saw this. Last time I went to New Orleans, I took a cooler so I could eat at all my favorite places and come back to the room to bag up (yes, I took my handy hand held ziploc vacuum sealer with me, too) the leftovers and bring them back home. I had leftovers --po boys, jambalaya, crawfish cheesecake (more like a soufflé meets quiche than cheesecake but so good)-- for days, and it was heaven.
Did you get to Cafe Du Monde? I could spend a long weekend in NOLA and only eat their beignets and coffee. Now I want beignets and coffee. Makes my english muffin with peanut butter and hot tea seem kind of sad. Thanks, Frank.;)
Oh, and why wouldn't you want everything to come with bacon?
I just wanted to report that I made a big pot of the jambalaya for a group of friends that helped me move over the weekend. It was a hit!
Celeste
[url=http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com/2008/04/dark-chocolate-bacon-cupcakes.html]Chocolate AND bacon.[/url]
I have to confess that I haven't tried them yet, but I'll generally try most anything food-related at least once, so at some point I'll probably actually make these.
When I do, I'll report back with my findings! It's a little too hot to fire up the oven today, though, so I'd have to go for the [url=http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/03/candied_bacon_i_1.html]bacon ice cream[/url] instead.
I'd heard of deep-fried Twinkies and deep-fried candy bars, although I've never tasted either one, but chicken-fried bacon was a complete surprise to me!
cnghr -- Never had bacon like that, but my grandmother used to dredge bacon through maple syrup and then flour and then pan fry it (in grease from the bacon grease can -- everybody has one of those, right?). Such good stuff.
The same grandmother and I shared a fried Snickers when we were traveling together last summer and were sorely disappointed. Don't know if it was fried too long or if Snickers just should not be fried but it completely overworked the candy bar -- wasn't quite burned but almost.
I actually have one of [URL="http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/bacon_exotic_candy_bar/"]these [/URL]in my fridge right now. It's definitely a piece-at-a-time type chocolate. I've had it in my fridge a week, and there are only two squares gone. Had been contemplating the purchase off the internet for a while now, but couldn't stomach the idea of paying as much for shipping as the candy. Then, I was getting ready to check out at Whole Foods last week when I heard a wife exclaim to her husband, "Bacon and chocolate together? Really?!!" (my head whips around and I see the display). His response: "It's bacon and chocolate -- how can you go wrong?" My thoughts exactly!
cnghr -- Never had bacon like that, but my grandmother used to dredge bacon through maple syrup and then flour and then pan fry it (in grease from the bacon grease can -- everybody has one of those, right?). Such good stuff.]
I've never heard of the maple syrup way of cooking bacon, but that kind of makes sense because I have eaten bacon that has gotten in the syrup from my pancakes and it's good.
And the bacon grease can....my mom had one of those and she used it a lot. It was specially made for bacon grease and had a little strainer in the top so any burned bits in the pan didn't fall through so you got just the pure bacon grease. I think I was an adult before I ever tasted eggs fried in anything but bacon grease.
We also have one of "bacon greese cans." I found it at the local Ace Hardware some years back. However, we use it for left over oils. My Mom always had one of these cans, however, my mother-in-law simply poured the excess bacon greese in a container, cup or bowl, and keep them in the ice box, not a fridge, until needed for the next meal. Wish I had read about the bacon/syrup/flour prior to leaving for the weekend- we would have tried that Sunday morning. Just may have to have breakfast for dinner one night this week.
Awesome!
Next, I'm going to have some made in a pie pan with a graham cracker crust. Ready-made s'mores!
He said he took the creation around to the people in his department before he headed our way. Out of five people who tried it, one really liked it, one spit it out, one thought it was so gross she took a picture of it, and two didn't think it was awful but it wasn't for them. Of course, he brings it over to my and Holly's side of the building and gets 100% approval and many thanks.
Definitely not for everyone, but I can't get Homer Simpson out of my head. . ."mmmmmmmmmmmmm bacon!"