Jambalaya

If there is one food that I love to eat it is Jambalaya. It's like a ricey pork laden plate of total goodness that is never out of season.  The problem was that I had been trying to find or paste together a recipe that would be my "go to". Now I'm not too proud to admit that for a long time when I made Jambalaya, I would just head to the Safeway and grab me a box of Zatarain's Jambalaya in a box, pick up some chicken breast and Andouille sausage and call it a day.  And it was actually pretty good. But I started to add more and more fresh stuff to the mix; fresh herbs, different meats, some hot sauce, and it just started to seem silly that I was still using the box. So the search for a Jambalaya recipe began.

I tried lots and lot of different recipes. From quick recipes with few ingredients and no spice to complex mixtures calling for clam juice and crawdad heads.  But there was always something that didn't quite taste like my first Jambalaya.  They all tasted dark, and the ingredient list got huge and expensive.

But this weekend I came across a chef stating that there are at least two kinds of Jambalya out there: Traditional and Creole.  With the Creole, he said, tomatoes are added to the party.  And that's when I felt like an idiot. Duh, a little acid from the tomato would brighten up the dish considerably.  And when I saw him add three kinds of pork added to the chicken and shrimp, I thought, here is a Jambalaya base that I can work with.  So it was time to play some Zydeco and get to work.

In this version I opted to use drummettes as part of the chicken, and I think it was a good move.  As the Drumettes were on the bone, more flavor ends up being imparted into the dish. Very important is you are using store bought stock.  I also love to serve this with a little Lousisana Hot Sauce. Now I really love these sauce as it imparts what I can only describe as a more "creamy" heat to what you add it to than many others. Unlike the label says, I use more than just a drop, but a few drops would be fine for most people.  I just happen to love really spicy foods.

Now as I said this version uses tons of pork; "healthy" and "kosher" are definitely not words I'd use to describe it...but delicious is.

Ingredients for Jambalaya

11/2 pounds andouille sausage, diced
1 pound fresh pork sausage or ground pork
1 pound bacon, diced
4 chicken thighs cut in half
8 chicken drumettes
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
5 celery stalks, diced
3 large onions, diced
2 green peppers, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 dried bay leaf
11/2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1/2 Tbsp celery salt 
4 cups long grain rice
3 cups crushed tomatoes
3 cups rich chicken broth
1pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 bunch green onions, chopped



Music: Buckwheat Zydeco's album "Five Card Stud"

Process for Jambalaya

1. Put the bacon, ground pork, and andouille sausage into a very big pot or dutch oven. I used a 9 quart dutch over and this dish came 3/4 the way to the top. you could probably make due with a 5-6 quart though. Cook over medium high heat till you start to get some brown on the meat and the fat has rendered.


2.While browning meat add a little salt, pepper, and half the Paprika to the chicken and rub the seasonings in.  Once the pork had rendered and browned, add the chicken to the pot and cook till it browns.

3. Once the chicken has browned a bit add the onions, peppers, garlic and celery to the pot and stir occationally. Let the veggies cook until they start to get a little brown. Since there is alot of veggies, this could take 10-15 minutes.

4. Once veggies have softened and browned, add the thyme, bay leaf, cayenne pepper, celery salt, remaining paprika and the rice.  Stir in the pot to open up the spices and toast the rice.  There will be some liquid from the veggies and the rice will start to soak that up a little. Let the pot cook for 5-7 minutes, stir once or twice.

5. Add the Chicken broth and crushed tomatoes and stir. Bring the pot to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. I stir it occasionally so that the rice on the bottom doesn't burn.

6. After cooking for 15 mintues, uncover and add the shrimp and green onions. Bury the shrimp down in the rice so its totally covered, put the lid on the pot, and cook for another 5-7 minutes till the shrimp is cooked through.


So what music goes well with a good Jambalaya? The answer for me is Zydeco. Its been around since the 1800's and as it is also a Creole invention, I think it goes well with the creole version of this dish. When it comes to Zydeco I think that Buckwheat Zydeco does it right.

I was introduced to Buckwheat Zydeco by my friend Jason who also introduced me to Zatarain's.  He borrowed Buckwheat's album "Five Card Stud" from our university library and loved the energy of the music.  This is not a music to relax to, its a music to drink beer with friends to.

My favorite cuts of this album are a cover of "Hey Baby", "Man with the Blues", and "I.R.S.".  These tracks really show the mixture of culture that is Creole.  To me it feels like blues being performed by happy people with a touch of jazz tossed in. And its another reason why the accordion is cool.