Pantry Meal Home Style Jambalaya

 

Pantry Meal Home Style Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a down home style staple dish to the South just as Pot-au-feu is a French staple dish that never ends. And like both of these treasures, the ingredients can be as varied as the wind.  Traditionally, Jambalaya can incorporate very similar ingredients to Spanish Paella, such as rice, chicken, fish, crawfish or shrimp. Keeping in mind that I am allergic to shellfish and mushrooms, and, that it was real near the end of the month when I had prepared this (teachers are now nodding their heads, knowing how tight the end of the month is, financially) I used the ingredients remaining in my pantry and frig.  With that knowledge, shall we get to my Pantry Meal Home Style Jambalaya? Oui!

Ingredients

To feed four - six people....

2 cups washed rice 

1 large red onion, coarsely chopped

6 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and grated

1 red, 1 green and 1 orange or yellow bell pepper, slivered

1 rounded tablespoon smoked Paprika

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

1/2 tablespoon crushed red chile flakes

2 rounded tablespoons Old Bay

2 rounded tablespoons Cajun spice

1 bay leaf

2-3 tablespoons your favorite hot hot sauce

2 sticks celery with the greens attached, chopped

3 scallions, greens attached, sliced at an angle

2-3 Andouille sausage links, sliced at an angle

3/4 your favorite beer

1 1/4 cups water

1 28-oz can tomato puree

4-6 sprigs Flat Leaf Italian Parsley, coarsely chopped

Either 2 tablespoons crushed coriander seed or...

1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh Cilantro

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

+ Anything else you want to add!!!😄

Meal Prep: Coarsely chop all of the veg except the peppers. Or, cube them, too.  

After slicing the sausage at an angle, add three drizzles of evoo to a large pot over medium-high heat and then add and sautee the sausage slices for up to seven minutes until the edges begin char or brown. 

Get color on the sausages like this!

Once the sausage gets that partly char going on, add all of the veg, onion and garlic and rice!  Add the tomato product, beer and water and bring to a boil.   

Combine all the spices in a bowl and mix well with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Pour the spices into the pot. Add the hot sauce. Stir for about two solid minutes to incorporate all of the flavors.  The aroma should be insanely good right now!

This is the time to add any other ingredients YOU want, such as shrimp, crawfish, fish, or chicken.  I would have added corn if I'd had any on hand.  

 

This dreamy vision is what Jambalaya should look like.  Again, yours might have one ore more other traditional ingredients.  As I said, my ingredients stemmed from what I had on hand, and thank goodness, I had all the spices!

After you have brought the "stew" to a boil, reduce the heat to low or warm-low, and simmer for 45+ minutes, stirring the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon every fifteen minutes to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.   

Stir every fifteen minutes to prevent rice from sticking.  When done, remove the bay leaf and serve in a bowl or on serving platter, family style or individually, whatever your preference.  The most important thing is to enjoy!

Thank You for taking the time to view my humble pantry meal Jambalaya.  I realize, once more, that mine is more of a stew, but, I used what I had on hand, and I did have all of the required spices to rank it up there with a Jambalaya, just not a true, traditional one.  

Now, Thanks for your viewership, your time and you Know how much I appreciate you.  So, Go Cook Something For Someone You Love!

Maybe Jambalaya!!!

~Martin

In-House Cook