Think i’m gonna ma ke a big 'ole pot the end of the week. Any recipes or suggestions? Anyone?
Shrimp Jambalaya
1 Cup vegetable oil
1 Cup flour
4 Tbsp chopped garlic
4 Cups chopped onions
2 Cups chopped celery
2 Cups chopped bell pepper
5 Cups chicken stock
3 Heaping Tbsp Joe’s Hot Stuff
4 Cups long grain rice
3 Pounds peeled deveined shrimp
1 Pound crabmeat
2 Cups chopped green onions or tomatoes (optional)
“First you make a roux” - the classic opening line of many a Cajun or Creole recipe…
Mix vegetable oil and flour in a very clean, heavy skillet. Turn on heat to low. Stir mixture constantly until a rich brown color appears (30 minutes or more). Remove from heat, continuing to stir, and allow to cool five minutes or so. Roux may be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen, tightly covered.
Pour warm roux into large dutch oven or stockpot and place on heat.
Add garlic, onions, celery, and peppers to the roux. Very lightly cook vegetables in roux until they reach the desired tenderness.
Add chicken stock and Joe’s Hot Stuff seasoning to stockpot. Instead of all chicken stock, a mixture of half chicken and half seafood stock may be used. Bring to a boil, stirring well.
Add rice and return to a boil, again stirring well. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Set timer for 10 minutes.
Saute shrimp and crabmeat in oil in the skillet until firm and slightly pink. Remove from heat and wait for timer to go off.
Uncover stockpot and add shrimp and crabmeat. The optional green onions and/or tomatoes may be added at this time. Quickly turn entire mixture in stockpot from top to bottom. Re-cover and simmer an additional 15 minutes until done.
Makes 12 servings.
This recipe started out as part of the class handout for the New Orleans School of Cooking. It was modified to more closely follow the recipe as taught in the class and was changed from chicken and sausage to shrimp and crabmeat. If you’re ever in New Orleans, do yourself a favor and sign up for their cooking class, it’s well worth it!
Looks great! Think I’ll add some sausage. Never heard of Joe’s Hot Stuff. Is it readily available, everywhere?
Yeah, you can pretty much add anything you’d like, so sausage? go for it.
As for the Joe’s, that’s pretty much only available in the Big Easy but you can use any Cajun seasoning that you can find.
Big Easy, eh? Well, this is Idaho. more like the Big Butthole. As for sausage, I guess I shold say kielbasi.
Funny, I just made my third batch, of Paella, in the last three weeks. I love hearty rice dishes; simple or sophisticated. Looks like next week, I’ll go with some Jambalaya. To me, jambalaya is about having fun and using the stuff you have in the fridge. I’ve made it with combos of chicken, ham, andouille sausage, shrimp, crab and, I’m sure, a few more that I’m probably forgetting. cheers, j
That’s what we do - ends up so full of meat, it’s no longer a poor man’s dish.
It’s funny, but that’s the same impression I had about paella when I was in Spain a couple decades ago - a whole lot of stuff that was layin’ around served on yellow rice.
It’s funny how poor people food can suddenly become classic, even very sophisticated, as if it had always been that way. Learning how to make something delicious from the crap you have in the fridge is definitely an admirable skill.
I feel the best dishes were invented out of and during improvised times. People get real creative when they have less, and some how dull and lazy when they have plenty.
One of the best compliments I ever got for cooking was when someone said. “Man, you could think there is nothing to eat in the kitchen and then Capazzoli goes in there and cooks a four coarse French meal.” Made me feel proud.
Sometimes it’s the challenge of the design that’s more fun that the actual cooking. We eat a lot of meals that way. Drives me nuts watching someone use a cook book recipe to the letter. Maybe the first time but after that it’s MY recipe. I guess my beer is the same way… Cheers!!!
It’s about technique. Learn technique and recipes fall to the wayside.
I just did a chili last night that was freeform. Ended up using spaghetti sauce that was taking space up in the freezer instead of the regular tomato sauce and paste. Cleaned out some jars of this and that in the fridge door. The result was different but actually very tasty and still a chili.
Jeff,
Paella - "a whole lot of stuff that was layin’ around served on yellow rice” You’re correct and I had a good laugh over how that sounds. I guess that and “the crap we had in the fridge” don’t roll off the tongue (or sell themselves) so that’s why we’ve invented the nice names and the supposed “authentic” list of ingredients for the original dish.
Cap,
Amen.
Euge,
Nice! I hope this catches on in the homebrewer world as well, “Learn technique [i.e. the principles] and recipes fall to the wayside.”
Its funny, we talk about this all of the time. We dont really go out to eat much cause it is kinda like scratching an itch that isnt there. If I do go out to eat its will be ethnic and usually one that is third world.
American food just absolutely sucks with a few exceptions. And they pile it on your plate to the point where it is gross. Who eats all that food? My guess is most dont, and it ends up in the dumpster.
I really love diners. Especially SS diner cars. There are lots around here and way back when you could go there and get a simple seemingly home cooked meal. Now a days you just get piles of suck there, even the coffee isnt good any more. There are still a few diners I go to for breakfast or lunch cause I know I can run into friends there and the waitresses remember me even if I havent been there in a year. So I go there more for the crowd not the food.
In NJ there are lots of circles, every circle has a diner. Though, slowly the circles; you know circles the kind you have to drive up too, close your eyes and punch the gas in order to get through, are slowly fading away.
Which reminds me, the last time I was in a NJ diner for dinner I had the Jambalaya. …and I really dont want to talk about it any more than that. :
I make a lot of snowflakes. Beers, stews, soups…
Funny you should mention that. Last weekend I had a hunger for spaghetti. Didn’t have all the ingredients for the sauce. Started looking around and found some mild chunky salsa. Had about everything I wanted, added some stuff (oregano, basil, garlic, anise, etc…) & made spaghetti sauce and homemade meatballs. Texas toast became garlic toast. A cheap bottle of wine and we were set. Wife was a bit surprised how good it actually turned out. Cheers!!!
Here’s a recipe I found from Hattie’s Restaurant off of the FN. Looks to be pretty creole authentic. In fact I’m going to give this a try sometime. IMO…It has all the essential ingredients needed to create the authentic creole flavor profile. If you can’t get the crawfish…RDWHAHB instead. ;D
Ingredients:
Extra-virgin olive oil, enough to coat a skillet
4 boneless chicken breasts, julienne-cut
20 jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined
All-purpose flour, for dusting
5 links andouille sausage, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 green peppers, julienned
2 red peppers, julienned
4 stalks celery, chopped
6 fresh okra pods, sliced
1 large Spanish onion
1 tablespoon oregano
4 tablespoons parsley
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cayenne
10 peeled plum tomatoes, chopped
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 cups long or medium grained rice
4 cups seafood or chicken stock
2 cups tomato juice
10 fresh crawfish, shell-on, optional
1 bunch scallions, chopped
Parsley, for garnish
Directions:
Coat a large, deep skillet with olive oil and keep on high heat until oil sizzles.
Dredge chicken and shrimp in flour and add to skillet with andouille sausage. Lower heat and remove the par-cooked shrimp. Add garlic, peppers, celery, okra, and onion and cook on low heat for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add all seasoning and diced tomatoes and Worcestershire.
Add uncooked rice and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes on low heat. Add stock and tomato juice, then simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat, taking care to stir to prevent sticking. Once rice has completely cooked, add shrimp and crawfish; simmer for 2 minutes.
Serve in a deep bowl and garnish with fresh chopped scallions and parsley.
Oh and weaz…I fixed the title for ya. 
If that’s okay by you. 8)
Thanks, and thanks! Hope to take a crack at it Friday.
This is what I always think of when I hear Jambalaya.