Jambalaya tonight after work - 1lb shrimp, 1/2lb chorizo, 1/2lb spicy kielbasa, tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, rice and lots of red pepper - what’s your favorite way?
Mmmmm. That sounds really good Paul. My recipe is pretty similar depending on what’s on hand. I like a little garlic and cayenne, although the spicy kielbasa might have that covered. Cheers!!!
I tend a little more toward the traditional. Make a roux, add the Trinity (celery, onion, peppers) and the Pope (garlic), then add stock and rice, Cajun seasoning blend (Kevin’s Bayou Blast is da bomb), finally the fillings (yours look great by the way). Cook until all liquid is absorbed by the rice.
I usually make it when I have leftover chicken that I pull and add at the very end (or on top at serving). I also typ use Andouille or sometimes hot italian sausage. Chorizo seems to overpower but that might just be the specific brand at my grocery. It’s quite hot. And trinity (except with poblano instead of green bell) instead of mirapoise but that depends on what I have. Often this is a ‘let’s use up a bunch of stuff’ dish for me so it’s never the same way twice.
If I’m saving some (which I always am) I prefer to make the rice separately and serve it over a bed of rice. I’m not crazy about the consistency/texture of leftover jambalaya if I mix the rice in.
Roux? In jambalaya?
Rice separate? In jambalaya?
Man, the biggest debate where I come from is with or without tomatoes. I go both ways, depends on the mood… ;)
The main thing is to caramelize the trinity!
My wife is from New Jersey. She calls it jumbolaya.
My son and I tease her,
“It’s not small-laya,
It’s not medium-laya,
It’s not large-laya,
It’s JUMBO-laya!”
OK now you gone and did it. I hafta makeup a batch of JUMBOlaya for dinner tonight. I picked up three bombers of Southern Hemisphere Harvest to keep the pump primed while I cook it. ;D
Which is exactly what happens to it when you add it to the hot roux :
Isn’t jambalaya just gumbo as the liquid component for the rice?
No, it’s definetly not gumbo with rice cooked in it. I’ve never heard of making a roux to cook the trinity for jambalaya. I’ve never heard of roux being used in jambalaya.
OK here’s what jambalaya is to me (learned from my mom’s side of the family in NOLA [Gretna actually])
No tomato kine
3 cups or so of diced onion (more is better)
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced celery (optional - debateable)
1 head of garlic - minced
1 lb cooked chicken meat, cubed
1 lb andouille, sliced 1/2" thick like peperoni for pizza
3 cups uncooked rice
6 cups stock (chicken, pork, turkey…)
several bay leaves
cayenne to prefered heat level
salt to taste
1 cup of chopped green oinions
Put 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a dutch oven and heat over medium fire. When oil is hot add the onions, bell peppers,(celery), 2 teaspoons of the salt and 1 teaspoon of the cayenne. Stirring often, brown the vegetables for about 20 minutes, or until they are caramelized and dark brown in color. Add the sausage and cook, stirring often for 10 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot to loosen any browned particles. Add minced garlic, bay leaves and cook 2-3 minutes. Add rice and stir well allowing rice to become coated with, and start to absorb juices (this is the important part to making the rice taste right). Add stock, and chicken, stir well, cover pot and bring to medium boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit with cover on until all of the liquid is absorbed (30 minutes or so). Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the green onions and serve.
If you use store-bought stock you can probably leave out the salt.
Tomato kine
leave out 1 cup of stock and add one 14oz can of stewed tomatoes at the same time you add the stock.
There is debate about whether celery should be used or not. I like it better without, but that’s my preference.
Jamalaya is really a catch-all for leftover meat. I’ve made it with every kind of meat imaginable. Something with fat (sausage prefered) should be cooked between the caramelized onions/peppers and the rice addition to make juice to coat the rice. This is a very important step for making the rice taste right.
EVERYBODY has there own take on this. Just like EVERYBODY has their own take on fried rice here in Hawaii. My Hawaiian friends love my jambalaya (they call it my 'haole kine fryrice")
Agreed, roux or no, tomato or no, it’s wide open to do whatever you like. It’s probably a descendant of paella anyway.
RE: no rice in my jambalaya; leftovers just come out better with rice separate imo, that’s the only reason I do that.
How do you do that?
Methinks that you spoon the Jambalaya over the rice for serving like a topping . Keeping
the rice seperate in that fashion…not being cooked in with the rest of the ingredients.
That’s like having lasagna with the noodles on the side.
“To each his own said the ole lady as she Kissed her Cow.”
Edit: Lotza pages about this (jambalaya cooking) on youtube…
The Jambalaya was awesome - put in some red chilis that really kicked it up. Having the remainder for leftovers tonight.
I kinda like the rice in it leftover - the rice seems to soak up more of the juices as it sits.
+1, the leftovers (with rice) are at least as good as the first time, sometimes seems even better.
Not JUMBO-laya but a first cousin. JW was very entertaining.
The BAM-man also makes a killer recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cajun-jambalaya-recipe2/index.html
About 25 years ago, while I was between jobs, I drove a taxi in Orlando. I was working the Orlando International Airport stand and Justin Wilson got in my cab. I took him out to the Hyatt Grand Cypress in Lake Buena Vista. He was as nice as could be and pretty much the same as he was on his cooking show. That was a cool fare.
I’ve learned a bit about cooking from him over the years.
Wow…that’s a lucky encounter.
I used watch him on a regular basis. I learned alot from him. I loved his Louisiana accent and his dry humor.
This is exactly why I don’t like the rice in it for leftovers, changes the consistency/texture. But that’s part of the beauty of cooking/food, everybody has their preferences.
Like lasagna with pasta on the side…or you could just call that pasta bolognese. ;) Pasta is another starch I prefer not mixed with the sauce until serving, for the same reason.