Jambalaya is one of those Creole staples that you can toss practically anything but soy products and kitchen appliances in; I've heard of bacon and alligator meat being used. I went for a combination of Andouille sausage, chicken, and baby shrimp. There's plenty of good recipes for creating your own Cajun seasoning mix but I just used the free seasoning blend offered by the meat department at my local grocery store.
Preparation:approx. 15 mins.
Cooking:approx. 2 hrs. 15 mins.
Servings:approx. 12 — 15
Est. cost: approx. $30
Today's Specimen
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Andouille sausage
- 1 lb. chicken breast meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 lb. baby shrimp
- 1 cup (approx. 2 medium) poblano pepper, diced
- 4 cups (approx. 2 medium) onion, diced
- 3 cups (approx. 4 stalks) celery, sliced
- 2 tbsp. (approx. 4 cloves) garlic, finely diced
- 2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes
- 1 4 oz. can green chilis
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp. white pepper
- ½ tsp. salt
- 3 14 oz. cans low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 tbsp. canola oil
Directions
- On medium-low heat in a large saucepan or frying pan cooking the Andouille sausage in two tablespoons of canola oil and the Cajun seasoning, constantly breaking up the sausage into fine chunks. After ten minutes add the chicken, then after twenty more minutes add the shrimp. At the same time in a large (min. 5 qt. capacity) pot on medium-low heat the onion, poblano, and garlic in the remaining two tablespoons of canola oil, stirring occasionally.
- After the meat has cooked for a total of forty-five minutes add it with the juices to the pot along with the diced tomatoes — also including the juice — the chicken broth, the chilis, and the spices. Fill one of the cans with water and add it, too.
- Bring the temperature up to medium and as soon as the pot comes to a boil cover it and drop the temperature down to low or simmer and leave to cook for at least an hour and a half, stirring every half hour and adding a cup or two of water if necessary to ensure it doesn't dry out too much. You want to start off with the consistency of a thick soup and reach a consistency of the pastiness of cooked rice.
Next Time in the Lab
This turned out great! But, I do hate being lazy and will make my own Cajun seasoning blend eventually that I will use for my next jambalaya. And, instead of baby shrimp I think I'll get some kind of local shrimp instead, since it's been a long time since I've shelled and deveined them and I bet they will taste better, too. That can of green chilis is probably unnecessary, too, now that I think of it.
- Substitute local shelled shrimp for the baby shrimp.
- Omit the green chilis.
- Increase the garlic to three tablespoons.
- Use my own Cajun seasoning blend.
- Increase the poblano to one-and-a-half cups.
