Recipe: Yummy Jambalaya

Recipe: Yummy Jambalaya Delicious, fresh and tasty.

Jambalaya. Add Meat, Seafood, Or Veggies To Zatarain's® Original Jambalaya Mix for A One-Pot Dish. Season the sausage and chicken pieces with Cajun seasoning. According to the dictionary, jambalaya is "rice cooked usually with ham, sausage, chicken, shrimp, or oysters and seasoned with herbs." In talking with lovers of authentic Creole food, this statement is as close as you will get to having people agree on what jambalaya really is.

Add Johnsonville's Andouille Dinner Sausage to bring everything together for a truly authentic taste experience.

Taking a trip to the Big Easy has never been so simple!

From her home in Topeka, Kansas, subscriber Betty May shares her recipe for quick-to-cook jambalaya. "Unlike some versions, this one doesn't have to simmer for hours," she notes. "Folks who like their food a bit spicy are sure to enjoy it.

You can have Jambalaya using 16 ingredients and 17 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Jambalaya

1. It’s of skinless, boneless chicken thighs.

2. It’s of uncooked chorizo sausage (the authentic sausage is called and andouille, but if you can find that in the UK please tell us where).

3. It’s of Olive oil.

4. It’s of onion.

5. It’s of celery sticks.

6. It’s of green pepper.

7. It’s of vine ripened tomatoes.

8. Prepare of garlic cloves.

9. You need of cayenne pepper.

10. It’s of paprika.

11. You need of dried oregano.

12. You need of dried thyme.

13. Prepare of bay leaves.

14. Prepare of mugs full of long grain rice.

15. It’s of mugs of chicken stock.

16. You need of spring onions, sliced (including the green bits).

Jalapeno and cayenne pepper add some zip to the shrimp and chicken." Jambalaya (/ ˌ dʒ æ m b ə ˈ l aɪ. ə / JAM-bə-LY-ə, / ˌ dʒ ʌ m-/ JUM-) is a popular dish of West African, French (especially Provençal cuisine), and Spanish influence, consisting mainly of meat and vegetables mixed with rice.

Traditionally, the meat always includes sausage of some sort, often a smoked meat such as andouille, along with pork or chicken and seafood (less common.

Jambalaya is such a culinary staple and storied dish in New Orleans the word is used to describe so much more than food. "What a crazy jambalaya of music at this festival." The dish has represented New Orleans since Colonial Spanish settlers tried reconstructing their native paella from locally-sourced ingredients.

Using an ice cream scoop, place a scoop of rice on to the center of the bowlfuls of jambalaya.

Jambalaya step by step

1. Measure out your rice into a pan, and wash the rice by running cold water into it, swishing it around, tipping the water away, then doing it again until the water is considerably less cloudy. Drain the rice and keep ready for later..

2. Chop up the chicken thighs into morcels. Season the raw meat with salt and pepper..

3. Skin the sausage and chop the into slices or chunks..

4. Heat some oil in a large pan and fry the chicken and sausage for a a few minutes..

5. Once the chicken is browned and the chorizo has coloured the oil, remove the meat from the pan..

6. Fry the onion, celery and green peppers in the lovely chorizo-y oil, until the onion is soft – about 10 minutes..

7. While you’re frying, boil the kettle and put boiling water in a pan. In a separate bowl, prepare some iced water. Dunk your tomatoes in the boiling water for about 30 seconds, then remove them and put them in the ice water..

8. You should now be able to peel the tomatoes’ skin off. Once you’ve done that, roughly chop the tomatoes..

9. Add the herbs and spices into the pan and stir in, cooking for 30 seconds or so..

10. Then add tomatoes to the pan and stir in. Cook for a few minutes..

11. Put the meat back into the pan, then add the rice. Stir to mix the rice with all the other goodies..

12. Now, pour the stock into the pan. Bring it to a simmer, then lower the heat so it doesn’t burn..

13. Cook for about as long as the rice packet says it’ll take, usually 12-15 minutes. Stir occasionally, but not too much and not too hard. You don’t want the rice breaking up and turning into a slop..

14. While it cooks, chop up your spring onions..

15. Once the rice is just tender and the water is mostly absorbed, sprinkle over the spring onion..

16. It’s ready to serve. Some people stir in chilli sauce at this point, or if you have some spice wimps in your midst, you could just leave it and let people administer the spicy sauce themselves..

17. Eat..

Sprinkle dishes with salt, pepper, chopped scallions, and thyme.

To Freeze: Prepare recipe as directed.

Jambalaya Ingredients: Alright, let's talk ingredients.

To make classic jambalaya, you will need: The Cajun/Creole "holy trinity": Celery, onion and green bell pepper (although for some extra color, I've also used red and yellow bell peppers).

Feel free to add more or less of either, depending on your heat preferences.