Jambalaya Recipe!

Wonderful Creole Or Cajun Food

Jambalaya Recipe made famous by a country song!

Jambalaya, the country song written by Moon Mullican and Hank Williams, documents this Cajun food or Creole food, depending on the cooking method you use.

The song reached # 1 on the U.S. Country Music Charts and remains one of Hank's most popular songs today. I love that song, but I also love to prepare, serve and eat this Louisiana specialty.

That song actually increased the rest of the nation's interest in Cajun and Creole cooking and in this dish specifically.

So before sharing this Jambalaya recipe and information about it, just for fun, take a listen to Hank Jr and 4 year old Hunter Hayes singing that famous song. Turn up your sound and enjoy!

It seems we are almost guaranteed a good time whenever we have this wonderful "clean out the ice box" kind of dish. There are probably hundreds of variations on this dish. Jambalaya may be made with beef, pork, chicken, duck, shrimp, oysters, crayfish, sausage, or any combination of those ingredients.

But most every Jambalaya recipe does call for onion, celery and green peppers and every recipe I have seen has cayenne pepper and / or Cajun seasoning. And serving it with rice is "mandatory."

Jambalaya is traditionally a "one pot meal," and there are two main methods for making it.

The first, and most common in Southeast Louisiana, is Creole Jambalaya, also called red Jambalaya because it contains tomatoes.

This recipe is characteristic of the second style (Cajun) and is more what you find in the southwestern and south-central parts of Louisiana. It does not contain tomatoes.

cooking Jambalaya

The meat is browned in a cast-iron pan or a heavy pan and the bits of meat that stick to the bottom of the pan are what give it a brownish color. The dish is finished when the rice has cooked (which is most often long grain white rice - a major product in the South).

Cajun-Style Jambalaya Recipe
Preparation time: 45 minutes. 4 servings (about 2 cups per serving)

Cooking Conversion Table

Ingredients:

1 1/4 tablespoon of vegetable oil and 1 1/4 tablespoons of butter

8 ounces of Andouille sausage (my favorite, but you can use Kielbasa or your favorite smoked sausage), sliced about 1/4 inch thick

1 1/2 cups diced onion

2 cups diced celery

1 1/2 cups diced green peppers

1 tablespoons Cajun seasonings (or to taste)

1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning

1 pound chicken breasts, diced

1 1/2 cups uncooked converted white rice

4 cups of chicken stock

Instructions:

In a large heavy skillet, add the vegetable oil and butter over medium heat

Add the Andouille sausage and cook until crisp (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly

Add onion, celery, peppers and seasonings to the pan

Stir well and cook until browned (about 10 minutes) scraping the pan bottom as needed

Add the chicken and raise the heat to high and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly

Stir in the rice and garlic and cook 5 minutes, stirring and scaping the pan bottom occasionally

Add the chicken stock, stirring well

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is tender but still has a little bite to it (about 20 minutes), stirring occasionally toward the end of the cooking time (See Option below)

Add salt if desired

Serve on heated plates, about two cups per serving

cajun-style jambalaya

Option: Finish the Jambalaya by transferring it to a baking pan and bake it uncovered in a 350 degree F oven until rice is tender but still has a little bite to it (about 1 hour). This method will assure the bottom of the pan will not burn. Remove from oven, stir well and then allow it to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Serve your delicious Jambalaya with a crisp green salad with a vinaigrette dressing and some crispy French bread.

Enjoy your Jambalaya Recipe and the company of those you share it with!

Donna
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