Cooking Cajun: Jambalaya Recipe

Jambalaya

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
5 cups chicken stock or water flavored with chicken bouillon
1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tbs. minced garlic
salt and ground black pepper
4 cups long grain rice
1 ½ lbs. sausage cut in ¼-inch slices
2 tbsp. Kitchen Bouquet (browning agent)
4 cups chopped onions
2 tbsp. seasoning salt
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped green onions
2 cups chopped green bell pepper

Preparation:

Season chicken with salt and pepper; brown in hot oil in 8 quart Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook 5-to-7 minutes. Remove chicken and sausage from pan; set aside.

Add onions, celery, green peppers and garlic; cook, stirring 7-10 minutes or until vegetables begin to wilt. Stir in chicken stock, reserved chicken and sausage, seasoning salt and Kitchen Bouquet. Bring to a boil. Add rice and return to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 10 minutes; remove cover and quickly turn rice from top to bottom completely. Replace cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Stir in green onions.

For brown jambalaya, add 1 heaping tbsp. brown sugar to hot oil and caramelize, or make a roux, or use Kitchen Bouquet.

For red jambalaya, add approximately 1/4 cup paprika or use 1/2 stock and 1/2 tomato juice or V-8 for your liquid.

For seafood jambalaya, add cooked seafood when rice is cooked.

If using an electric stove, reduce cooking time by 3-4 minutes.

Four Tips

Use 1 cup of rice for every 2 cups of vegetables (onion, celery, bell pepper)
Use 1 ¼ cups of liquid for every 1 cup of uncooked rice
1 cup of uncooked rice will make 3 cups of cooked rice, season accordingly
Cook jambalaya for a total of 25 to 30 minutes, stirring well after 10 minutes.