Jambalaya recipe

Cafe Society
1

With Mardi Gras just a few days away, it’s time to prep for jambalaya. Unfortunately, the link to the recipe I use is dead. While I can just make it from memory, I fortunately have the recipe on a backup disc from my old computer. I may as well post it here; not only to share with everyone, but to be able to find it again later. :wink:

Cajun Jambalaya

• PREP TIME: 30 minutes
• TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 30 minutes
• YIELD: 6 servings, about 3 quarts

INGREDIENTS
• 24 medium peeled, deveined shrimp, about 1/2 pound, chopped
• 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced
• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 1 1/2 cups long grain rice
• 3 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 pound Andouille sausage, sliced
• Chopped green onion for garnish

DIRECTIONS
• Combine the shrimp, chicken and Creole seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat evenly. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions, peppers and celery, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, Worcestershire and hot sauces. Stir in the rice and slowly add the broth. Bring the rice to a simmer, cover and reduce heat to low and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the shrimp and chicken mixture, and the sausage. Cover and cook for 10 minutes longer. Turn off the heat and allow the jambalaya to continue to steam 10 minutes longer before serving. Stir in the green onion.

Creole Seasoning:
• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
Yield: 2/3 cup

2

I have high hopes for this, given that you can make it from memory, and I don’t suppose you sat down and just memorized one day. You’ve made it a lot, right? :slight_smile:

To be clear, you use all the seasoning in the recipe with the chicken and shrimp? Not just to “taste”?

3

It’s pretty much ‘Put everything in a pot.’ :wink: I don’t have the Creole seasoning recipe memorised, but you can see it’s just a bunch of stuff. It’s called ‘Emeril’s Essence’, so it’s google-able. But I always make a quadruple batch so that I always have jars of it on-hand.

The seasoning recipe makes ⅔ cup, but you only use a tablespoon in the jambalaya. The Holy Trinity, garlic, Worcestershire, hot sauce (use Louisiana-style – hot peppers, salt, and vinegar – such as Tabasco or Louisiana brand), and the andouille sausage (hot-ish) provide a lot of flavour. You can add more Creole seasoning if you want to. I find that sticking to the recipe provides enough flavour for me, without being too spicy for my officemates.

4

I made this one recently. Delicious.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/31848/jambalaya/

5

Okay, I see. Missed that the essence = creole seasoning. Looking forward to trying this.

6

The chicken cooks in the same time as the shrimp? Seems like you’d either have overcooked shrimp or undercooked chicken.

7

I’ve reported the OP to see if a mod can change Emeril’s Essence to Creole Seasoning.

I know, right? But it works every time for me.

8

I rely on Paul Prudhomme’s jambalaya recipes from the original P.P.’s Louisiana Kitchen.

I also like the way he molds the finished dish into a ramekin and upends it onto the plate, so you have a nice neat mound of jambalaya to tuck into.

9

I have the book, but haven’t tried that recipe.

When I make aspara nikumaki, I use a ramekin that way for the rice.

10

A nit: if it has tomatoes in it, it’s creole jambalaya, not Cajun.

11

Zat right? I always though the Cajun cuisine was WAY into tomatoes.

Come to think of it, I don’t remember ever making jambalaya without tomato. Tomato is one of the few ingredients separating jambalaya from dirty rice.

(Jambalaya: chicken and sausage. Dirty rice: chicken gizzards and ground pork.)

12

The recipe was called Cajun when I copied it into Word. I’ve always thought of it as Creole, and almost changed the title of the recipe but didn’t.

Jambalaya also needs shrimp. :wink: And it has Creole seasoning. Dirty rice only has a bit of cayenne. I don’t use muscle meat in dirty rice, and I’m not fond of gizzards. (I don’t hate gizzards; I just don’t care for the chewiness.) I double up on the filtration units. I loves me some filtration units!

13

Objection: Jambalaya does not need shrimp. Andouille sausage and chicken is fine.

That is all :slight_smile:

14

No, that’s Creole.

15

There are many versions of jambalaya, and not all of them use shrimp.

Most recipes for dirty rice call for the rice to be cooked separately, while jambalaya is usually made like a paella, with the rice cooked with the other ingredients. Also, jambalaya usually has a higher meat-to-rice ratio.

16

BTW, here’s a nice Cajun brown jambalaya recipe. Have a nice stroll through that website. It has served me well for … oh … at least a decade. I want to say closer to twenty years, though. (ETA: Yeah, it looks like the domain has existed since 1997, and I’m pretty sure I’ve been cooking from it since c. 2000/2001.)

Donald Link’s book “Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link’s Louisiana” is also a nice resource. He writes: “In my opinion, there are two types of jambalaya – Cajun and Creole. The main difference is that, in the Creole version, the rice is cooked in a tomatoey sauce, and the reipce might include shrimp along with the meat and sausage. The Cajun approach is simpler and more rustic. I prefer the way the chicken and sausage flavor blend into the rice, creating a dish with a robusty meat flavor.”

So, yeah, no tomatoes required, and no seafood required.

17

Question:

Would the Paprika in the Creole seasoning be sweet, hot or smoked?

I have tried Emeril’s Essence but I don’t remember it as very spicy

18

IME, paprika with no further qualifiers generally indicates sweet.

19

If they don’t specify, always use sweet paprika. Hot and smoked are rare enough that the recipe-writer would say.

“Add pepper” would mean black pepper. Don’t stop to wonder if they wanted white or Szechuan.

20

Johnny, you shared your jambalaya recipe a few years ago. I remember making it and it turned out pretty good for a first attempt. I need to try it again.

Ah, here’s the thread. It looks like your recipe has doubled in size since then.