Homemade Jambalaya

Mike and I love Cajun food. Living in Louisiana for 3+ years will do that to you. Crawfish, jambalaya and gumbo became some of our favorites creole delicacies. I used to make jambalaya from the box...there are several brands that we've tried. All yummy of course, but here lately, I've been attempting to make everything from scratch if I'm able to.

 I was oh so happy when I came across this recipe in one of my cookbooks; Paula Dean's book of all books. It used to have a cover to it, but I took it off (It looks neater that way). I think it's titled, "Paula Dean Celebrates."

Anyhoo...

The recipe is EXTREME-ly easy. You probably have most of the ingredients. Cajun cooking uses alot of common and everyday stuff.

Here's the recipe:

1 t salt

2 large chicken breasts halves, shredded

1 1/2 T butter

2 cloves minced garlic

 1 cup  chopped celery

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

 2 cups cooked rice (white works better)

1 lb smoked sausage cut into 1" pieces

1 14.5 can stewed creole tomatoes

1/2 cup dry sherry

Optional:

1 1/2 lbs medium shrimp

1 cup shucked raw oysters

1 cup fresh crab meat

Hot sauce

Salt and pepper

First things first, get your rice cooking ahead of time. It makes things quicker. This recipes goes together quicker than you'd think.

I used brown rice just because I'm trying to use more whole grain ingredients these days. White rice would probably be better though.

You're going to boil your chicken in 2 cups of water with the salt for about 25 minutes until it's cooked through. After they're cooled, take them out of the broth and shred the meat. Reserve the broth on the side.

In a saute pan, melt your butter and add your veggies. Cook until they are tender and limp, about 3-5 minutes. Set aside.

Place your broth back on the stove and bring to a boil. Add your rice and sausage and bring it to a boil. Then add your tomatoes, veggies, shredded chicken, and sherry. Let this simmer for about 15 minutes.

If you're adding the seafood, add it last and only let it cook for about 5-7 minutes.

Check for seasoning and add S&P to taste.

This is what mine looked like. We didn't add the seafood because it wasn't in the budget, but it was still full of flavor and meat.

It's a quick meal. Espeiclaly if you have stuff in the freezer; such as shredded chicken, cooked rice, chopped veggies, chicken broth, etc. This allows you to just throw it all together.

I hope you try it.