Madeline’s New Orleans Jambalaya Recipe
Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a delicious Creole/Cajun rice dish most popular in South Louisiana. It’s a recipe that can be prepared with a variety of ingredients such as beef, pork, chicken, duck, shrimp, oysters, crayfish (crawfish), sausage, or any combination. In New Orleans, whatever “bits” you have left over in your fridge, go straight into the jambalaya pot! Some of the more standard additions are green pepper, cayenne pepper, tomatoes, celery, and onions. Cajun style jambalaya is an old Louisiana version of Spanish paella and can be cooked in an iron pot over a flame. Creole jambalaya (also called red jambalaya) and Cajun jambalaya are the most widely known variations of this dish.
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Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or ¼ c. olive oil
2 medium onions (yellow or white), chopped
5 green onions, chopped (reserve one for garnish)
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 stalks celery finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 jalapeño chili, finely chopped with seeds
1 tablespoon Creole Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
2 tablespoon dried parsley (optional)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound andouille sausage or hot Italian sausage, cut into ½ inch pieces
3/4 pound chicken, cut or broken into 1 inch pieces
2 14 1/2-ounce cans chicken broth
1 16-ounce can plum tomatoes, diced, with liquid
3 cups long-grain rice
Melt butter (or heat oil) in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, 4 green onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, jalapeño, Creole Seasoning, cayenne pepper, parsley and oregano. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender and onions are clear, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Gently stir in tomato paste. Add sausage, chicken, tomatoes, broth, rice and bay leaves. Bring mixture to simmer and stir once from the bottom to blend. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Garnish with remaining green onion and a sliced lime to serve. This recipe serves 10 and can easily be cut in half.
Madeline’s tips and notes: It’s very easy to play around with the seasoning in this recipe. Add less cayenne pepper for a milder taste or add Tabasco sauce for an even bigger kick. Don’t be intimidated by the long ingredient list — jambalaya is a simple “one pot” meal — once the chopping is done all you do is throw everything in the pot. You can also skip the tomatoes altogether for the “traditional brown version” of the dish. Try a variety of garnishes like cilantro, lime, chopped red onion – you name it, it will taste good on jambalaya. A salad and French bread really complete the meal Louisiana style.