A few years ago when I first started actually making dinner for Gigi and A-Dub every night I realized I needed to dramatically expand my cooking repertoire. There are a few cuisines that I had always been too intimidated to attempt making on my own. One is barbeque. I have yet to tackle ribs. I hope to one day! I have actually cooked a brisket though. Baby steps. Another is cajun. My mom would make gumbo, but that was pretty much the extent of cajun food I had seen being made. But I had always wanted to try. Gigi couldn't eat shrimp, so I thought I'd try jambalaya with chicken and sausage. I did some research on food network and some other websites but I couldn't find anything that sounded just right. I asked my friend Cherie, who is from New Orleans, if she had a good recipe and she said she did, but it didn't have tomatoes in it and I wanted mine to be red! So I decided to cobble together my own recipe using the ones that I'd found that sounded okay. It was actually good on the first try! A-Dub and Gigi gobbled it up.
Jambalaya
1 pound chicken breasts or tenders, cut into chunks
1 pound andouille or smoked sausage, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1 cup Uncle Ben's converted rice
1 tbsp "Cajun" seasoning (Emeril's or other - mine is the Kroger generic kind)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz can chicken broth
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
Normally I use regular smoked sausage but this time I found andouille sausage, which I guess is what is traditionally used.
Cut the sausage into thin-ish slices.
Slice your chicken into bite-sized chunks. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Don't taste it though, it's raw chicken!
Instead of a can of chicken broth, I decided to use my "Better than Bouillon" to see if we noticed a difference. I am pleased to say we didn't!
Also it is way, way cheaper. I just made 16oz (2 cups) according to the directions on the jar.
Dice up your "trinity" (that is what they call green bell pepper, onion and celery in Cajun cooking).
Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, and cook your sausage. Remove from the pan and place on a plate.
Add the chicken (you shouldn't need more oil) and cook until it's not pink. You don't have to cook all the way through. Remove from the pan and add to plate with sausage.
Add 1 tbsp olive oil if needed. Add green bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic and cajun seasoning and cook until tender.
Add rice and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly or else it will stick.
Add chicken broth, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Return sausage and chicken to the pan. Stir it up! Add bay leaf.
Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 25 minutes. When time is up, remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes. Resist the urge to take a peek! When 10 minutes are up lift the lid and voila! Don't forget to remove that bay leaf! Hopefully it will have floated to the top.
Stir it up to combine.
Jambalaya, Cheerios, broccoli and carrots. What a dinner!
Note: If you want this to be hot, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. You can add it to the chicken or when you add the cajun seasoning.
Yum, yum, Tay Tay, will have to try this one too. Like A-Dub in his Razorback shirt :)
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