Photo by Sam Hiersteiner
I moved away from Louisiana about 3 years ago, I lived there for roughly 20 years. I miss it some, mainly because of the culture and food-especially jambalaya. I love me some jambalaya (of the cajun variety, not creole). Creole jambalaya has a reddish coloring and is made with tomatoes and shrimp; cajun jambalaya has a brownish coloring. You can find creole jambalaya in New Orleans, pretty much everywhere else cooks cajun. I got this recipe from Mike Nola of Baton Rouge; he has won numerous jambalaya cook-off tournaments with it. This is hands down the best recipe. You will need a cast iron pot/dutch oven and a wooden spoon.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Mahatma long grain rice
- 3 cups water (use 1 and ½ cup water for every 1 cup rice)
- 1 lb. Chopped yellow onions
- 2 green onions, chopped fine
- 1 tsp. Minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp. Louisiana hot sauce (do not use a lot)
- Louisiana Cajun Seasoning (orange can – amount given below)
- 1 lbs. pork sausage, sliced in thin round pieces
- 1 lbs. Boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut in pieces (but not too small or chicken will break up too much)
Directions:
Brown sausage in a little vegetable oil in a large CAST IRON pot about 15 minutes.
Remove from pot and drain grease.
Put chicken in pot and do the same, cooking chicken about 25 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Let chicken bits stick to the bottom. The little bits of brown is what gives jambalaya its flavor and color. You will have to stay at the pot stirring, the chicken sticks pretty fast.
Saute yellow onion in pot with a little vegetable oil. Wait about 2-3 minutes before stirring. As the onion begin to sweat, scrape bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Cook 15 minutes.
Add garlic and about ½ of green onion. Saute about 10 minutes longer.
Return sausage and chicken to pot and cook together about 5 minutes. Add water and seasoning at this point. (Sprinkle enough Cajun seasoning till water tastes slightly over-seasoned.
Bring mixture to boil, then add rice and stir.
Bring back to a rolling boil, stir once, then cover pot and cook on low about 15 minutes. Stir quickly, then cook about 15 more minutes.
Check at this point to see if rice is cooked. If it is, sprinkle a small amount of green onion (do not stir), cover pot, turn off heat and let sit about 15 minutes before serving.
