Jambalaya



A few years ago we visited New Orleans and loved the cuisine.  We tried gumbo, jambalaya, beignets, tasty seafood and other great Creole dishes!  I did some research over the years and found a few good recipes for jambalaya.  By combining a few different recipes that I liked I came up with my own.  So here is my jambalaya recipe:

Ingredients:
(Servings: 6)
- 1 cup of coarse chopped yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves (peeled and minced)
- 1 cup of chopped sweet green pepper
- 3/4 cup of finely diced celery stalk
- 4 tablespoons of bacon drippings (I usually substitute sunflower seed oil or similar to make it healthier)
- 3 tablespoons of minced parsley
- 6 ounces of smoked ham cut into 3/8 inch cubes (I used spiced sausage instead)
- 1 large bay leaf crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon of crumbled leaf of thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)
- 1 can of tomatoes (1 lb/14 oz) (I used two smaller tomatoes - chopped and saved their juice)
- 1 can of tomato sauce (8 oz)
- 1 3/4 cup of cold water
- 1 3/4 cup of uncooked converted rice (I used regular long-grained rice)
- 1 1/2 pounds of medium shrimp, raw, shelled, deveined (I used 1 pound of cooked shrimp)

Preparation:

- Set large kettle over moderate heat (I use a Dutch Oven)

- Saute onion, garlic, green pepper and celery stalk in the bacon drippings for 8 to 10 minutes until they are limp and golden

- Add parsley, ham cubes (sausage cubes), bay leaf, thyme and cayenne pepper

- Saute, stirring often, for 5 to 6 minutes

- Add salt, tomatoes and their juice, tomato sauce and water

- Simmer the kettle, uncovered, for 5 minutes, breaking up any large clumps of tomatoes

- Set burner to medium/low so it simmers gently

- Stir in rice, cover the kettle, and boil the rice for 40 minutes (or until the rice is cooked making sure to add water if rice starts to stick to the bottom)

- Add the shrimp, cover the kettle and simmer for 15-20 minutes until shrimp are cooked through, the rice is done, and almost all of the liquid has been absorbed

- Taste the Jambalaya and add cayenne pepper, salt and cajun spice if needed.

- Enjoy! :)

 

If you decide to try this recipe, I would love to hear from you!  Let me know how it turned out and/or send me a photo too! :)