Becca’s Jambalaya

Name: Becca’s Jambalaya
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Creole, Cajun
Ingredients: 473 milliliters Andouille and smoked sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick; 532 milliliters Water; 237 milliliters Uncle Bens converted original long grain rice; 532 milliliters Chicken broth (homemade is best); 473 milliliters Onion - a mix of yellow, red, and green onions (tops included), all chopped total; 473 milliliters Bell peppers - a mix of yellow, red, and green, all chopped total; 237 milliliters Celery, chopped; 1 leave Bay - 2 (Make sure they are fresh and strong, if not, add more); 1 Tbsp Garlic, minced - 1 heaping Tablespoon; 0 Whole cooked tomatoes a 32-oz can, break up the tomatoes with your fingers as they go in, reserve the tomato juice to add if necessary; 0 Diced tomatoes a 14-oz can; 0 Tomato sauce an 8-oz can; 1 teaspoon Dried thyme; 1 serving Tabasco sauce - several sprinkles; 1 teaspoon Oregano; 1 teaspoons Cayenne pepper; 1 pinch Sugar; 1 serving Tony Chacheres Creole Seasoning - to taste; 1 Fresh Shrimp, in shell, but cut to make it easy to remove from shell 1/2 to 2 lbs (Remove shells and store shrimp in ice water while shelling.); 1 Lemon juice - juice of half a lemon for each lb of shrimp; 1 box Tony Chacheres Creole Jambalaya Dinner Mix - One 8-oz

If you have roughly roughly 45 minutes to spend in the kitchen, Becca’s Jambalaya might be a great gluten free and dairy free recipe to try. This recipe serves 12. One serving contains 120 calories, 4g of protein, and 4g of fat. This recipe covers 7% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. It works well as a very affordable hor d'oeuvre. If you have andouille and sausage, uncle ben's converted original rice, canned tomatoes, and a few other ingredients on hand, you can make it. This recipe is typical of Cajun cuisine.

Instructions

Prepare the vegetables and shrimp: It pays to get as much of the prep work done ahead of time, especially if you are making a large batch. Note that Becca gets her shrimp fresh, not frozen, in the shell, and butterfly cut to make it easy to de-shell.

Ingredients you will need

Vegetable

Shrimp

After chopping up all the vegetables, de-shelling the shrimp takes a bunch of time because you want to make sure to get all of the shell pieces out. As you de-shell the shrimp, place the shrimp in a bowl of cold water.

Ingredients you will need

Vegetable

Shrimp

Water

Equipment you will use

Bowl

When you are done de-shelling, strain the water from the shrimp and put the shrimp in the refrigerator to stay cold. You will not add the shrimp to the jambalaya until the last 2 minutes of making this dish.

Ingredients you will need

Shrimp

Water

Fry the sausage slices: In a large skillet, fry the sausage slices on medium heat, in batches, until cooked through, about 15 minutes for each batch.

Ingredients you will need

Sausage

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

As you finish each batch, pour out the sausage and whatever fat has been released into a large stockpot.

Ingredients you will need

Sausage

Equipment you will use

Pot

The size of the stockpot depends on how much jambalaya you are making. For a this batch, I would use an 8-Qt stockpot.

Equipment you will use

Pot

Add Tony Chachere's, water, rice, chicken broth, onions, peppers, celery:

Ingredients you will need

Chicken Broth

Peppers

Celery

Onion

Water

Rice

Add Tony Chachere's Creole Jambalaya Dinner mix, and 2 1/4 cups of water for every 8 oz box used.

Ingredients you will need

Water

Add Uncle Ben's long grain rice and 2 1/4 cups of chicken broth for every cup of rice used.

Ingredients you will need

Long Grain Rice

Chicken Broth

Rice

Add onions, bell peppers, and celery. Slowly bring mixture to a simmer, on MEDIUM heat. This is slow cooking.

Ingredients you will need

Bell Pepper

Celery

Onion

You want it on medium to prevent the jambalaya from burning. While the jambalaya is cooking, stir it every once in a while to make sure that nothing is sticking to the bottom.

Add bay leaves, garlic, whole tomatoes (reserve juice), diced tomatoes, tomato sauce.

Ingredients you will need

Tomato

Tomato Sauce

Bay Leaves

Garlic

Juice

Add thyme, tabasco, oregano, cayenne pepper, sugar. Slow cook on medium heat adding tomato juice and stock as needed, as the rice absorbs the liquid in the pot. You do not want it to get dried out, nor do you want it to be too liquid-y.

Ingredients you will need

Cayenne Pepper

Tomato Juice

Oregano

Hot Sauce

Stock

Sugar

Thyme

Rice

Equipment you will use

Pot

At this point, stir often to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Have the temperature be just a notch below a simmer. If it begins to boil, lower the heat, or add water. Cook slowly for an hour as the rice absorbs the liquid.

Ingredients you will need

Water

Rice

Adjust seasonings: While the jambalaya is cooking, taste frequently and adjust seasonings. Becca likes her jambalaya pretty hot; she says, "If you're not sweat'n, it's not hot enough!" She adds Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning to bring up the heat.

Ingredients you will need

Creole Seasoning

Seasoning

Add to taste.

When the rice has absorbed as much moisture as it will, slowly fold in the shrimp.

Ingredients you will need

Shrimp

Rice

Add lemon juice (1/2 a lemon for each lb of shrimp). Cover and cook for 2 more minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Lemon Juice

Shrimp

Lemon

Remove from heat and you're done.

Equipment

Bowl

Frying Pan

Pot

Ingredients

Servings:

473milliliters

Andouille and smoked sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick 532milliliters

Water 237milliliters

Uncle Ben's converted original long grain rice 532milliliters

Chicken broth (homemade is best)473milliliters

Onion - a mix of yellow, red, and green onions (tops included), all chopped total 473milliliters

Bell peppers - a mix of yellow, red, and green, all chopped total 237milliliters

Celery, chopped 1leave

Bay - 2 (Make sure they are fresh and strong, if not, add more)1Tbsp

Garlic, minced - 1 heaping Tablespoon 0

Whole cooked tomatoes a 32-oz can, break up the tomatoes with your fingers as they go in, reserve the tomato juice to add if necessary 0

Diced tomatoes a 14-oz can 0

Tomato sauce an 8-oz can 1teaspoon

Dried thyme 1serving

Tabasco sauce - several sprinkles 1teaspoon

Oregano 1teaspoons

Cayenne pepper 1pinch

Sugar 1serving

Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning - to taste 1

Fresh Shrimp, in shell, but cut to make it easy to remove from shell 1/2 to 2 lbs (Remove shells and store shrimp in ice water while shelling.)1

Lemon juice - juice of half a lemon for each lb of shrimp 1box

Tony Chachere's Creole Jambalaya Dinner Mix - One 8-oz

Recommended wine: Albarino, Rose Wine, Sauvignon Blanc

Jambalaya can be paired with Albarino, rosé Wine, and Sauvignon Blanc. These low-tannin, lower alcohol wines will complement the heat in spicy cajun dishes, instead of making your mouth burn more. The Doelas Rias Baixas Albarino with a 4.7 out of 5 star rating seems like a good match. It costs about 20 dollars per bottle.