FTA's Texas Jambalaya
I imagine many of you have your own way of cooking jambalaya. There's 100 ways to do it. I cooked some this weekend at the 'Bama tailgate, though, and it turned out amazing. So, in case you want to try something new, here we go.
Ingredients
HEB thick cut jalapeno bacon
Slovacek jalpeno pork sausage
boneless skinless chicken thighs
Peeled and deveined shrimp
2 white onions
2 green bell peppers
celery stalks
6 cloves garlic
green onion
Long grain rice (Zatarain's or similar)
Chicken stock
Rotel diced tomatoes & green chiles
black pepper
cayenne pepper
salt
smoked paprika
Tony Chachere's
Cooking tools
Dutch oven
Knife
Wooden stirrer with flat end.
Directions
1. Prep your trinity. Finely dice the onions, bell pepper & celery. Some would say equal amounts of all 3, but I generally want the peppers/celery to be about even amounts, and I would maybe want 1/3 more onion. In other words, the onion is more important.
2. Cut your sausages into small bites, and cut up your chicken thighs.
3. Using maybe 1/2 the package of bacon, cut the bacon into small pieces and drop it into the heated Dutch oven. Cook until crispy, but do not let any of it burn. Remove the bacon to some paper towels. Leave the bacon grease in the Dutch oven.
4. Add your sausage in and brown it. Remove your sausage.
5. Add you chicken thighs, well seasoned with Tony Chachere's. Just brown the chicken. Don't cook it through. Remove the chicken.
What you have now is tons of flavor/fond in the bottom of your oven. Depending on how much bacon grease you have, you might want to add a little olive or canola oil, but your bacon grease is probably enough.
6. Now add in the onion. Stir it with your wooden spoon, and scrape that fond so that the onions soak in all the flavors of the bacon, sausage and chicken.
7. Once the onions are starting to get translucent, add in the peppers and celery. Also throw in some salt and pepper to your taste. Keep stirring and scraping.
8. Make a little hole in the middle of your trinity and add in some minced garlic. Do not let it burn. Keep stirring. The smells should be pretty intense!
9. Now, this is a key step. Now it is time to add in your rice. You want to stir in the rice dry, before you add liquid. Cook it for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. This covers the rice with the grease and the flavor, and it makes a big difference in how the rice cooks.
9.1. Get that browned sausage and chicken and put it back in your pot.
10. Now, add your chicken stock and throw in cayenne and smoked paprika to taste. I would go 2:1 paprika:cayenne.
11. The next step is controversial because real Cajun jambalaya doesn't have tomatoes, but this is Texas jambalaya. Drain the liquid from your cans of rotel and stir those tomatoes in there. Bring that cauldron to a boil, reduce heat and simmer.
12. You will probably want to check on it every once in a while to make sure that rice doesn't burn on the bottom of the oven. Keep the simmer low. You need to go a good 45 mins to an hour.
13. Now, its is time to add in those shrimp. The pot is going to be hot, and it won't take them long to cook. Stir in and recover.
14. Almost there. Final step is to add in some chopped green onions and that bacon you probably forgot about. Stir for 5 mins.
Serve to hungry people.
Gig 'em,
FTA
I imagine many of you have your own way of cooking jambalaya. There's 100 ways to do it. I cooked some this weekend at the 'Bama tailgate, though, and it turned out amazing. So, in case you want to try something new, here we go.
Ingredients
HEB thick cut jalapeno bacon
Slovacek jalpeno pork sausage
boneless skinless chicken thighs
Peeled and deveined shrimp
2 white onions
2 green bell peppers
celery stalks
6 cloves garlic
green onion
Long grain rice (Zatarain's or similar)
Chicken stock
Rotel diced tomatoes & green chiles
black pepper
cayenne pepper
salt
smoked paprika
Tony Chachere's
Cooking tools
Dutch oven
Knife
Wooden stirrer with flat end.
Directions
1. Prep your trinity. Finely dice the onions, bell pepper & celery. Some would say equal amounts of all 3, but I generally want the peppers/celery to be about even amounts, and I would maybe want 1/3 more onion. In other words, the onion is more important.
2. Cut your sausages into small bites, and cut up your chicken thighs.
3. Using maybe 1/2 the package of bacon, cut the bacon into small pieces and drop it into the heated Dutch oven. Cook until crispy, but do not let any of it burn. Remove the bacon to some paper towels. Leave the bacon grease in the Dutch oven.
4. Add your sausage in and brown it. Remove your sausage.
5. Add you chicken thighs, well seasoned with Tony Chachere's. Just brown the chicken. Don't cook it through. Remove the chicken.
What you have now is tons of flavor/fond in the bottom of your oven. Depending on how much bacon grease you have, you might want to add a little olive or canola oil, but your bacon grease is probably enough.
6. Now add in the onion. Stir it with your wooden spoon, and scrape that fond so that the onions soak in all the flavors of the bacon, sausage and chicken.
7. Once the onions are starting to get translucent, add in the peppers and celery. Also throw in some salt and pepper to your taste. Keep stirring and scraping.
8. Make a little hole in the middle of your trinity and add in some minced garlic. Do not let it burn. Keep stirring. The smells should be pretty intense!
9. Now, this is a key step. Now it is time to add in your rice. You want to stir in the rice dry, before you add liquid. Cook it for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. This covers the rice with the grease and the flavor, and it makes a big difference in how the rice cooks.
9.1. Get that browned sausage and chicken and put it back in your pot.
10. Now, add your chicken stock and throw in cayenne and smoked paprika to taste. I would go 2:1 paprika:cayenne.
11. The next step is controversial because real Cajun jambalaya doesn't have tomatoes, but this is Texas jambalaya. Drain the liquid from your cans of rotel and stir those tomatoes in there. Bring that cauldron to a boil, reduce heat and simmer.
12. You will probably want to check on it every once in a while to make sure that rice doesn't burn on the bottom of the oven. Keep the simmer low. You need to go a good 45 mins to an hour.
13. Now, its is time to add in those shrimp. The pot is going to be hot, and it won't take them long to cook. Stir in and recover.
14. Almost there. Final step is to add in some chopped green onions and that bacon you probably forgot about. Stir for 5 mins.
Serve to hungry people.
Gig 'em,
FTA
