January is for Jambalaya
Several years ago, we spent New Year’s Eve in The Big Easy…New Orleans. To say it was fun would be an understatement. In that it was New Year’s Eve in New Orleans, not only were we ringing in the New Year with the expected New Year’s revelers, but being that the Sugar Bowl was being played, tens of thousands of additional fans lined Bourbon Street for a raucous night of partying and debauchery. As they say about so many cities, “What happens in New Orleans, stays in New Orleans.”
On a morning when most of The Big Easy was sleeping it off, our travels took us to The New Orleans School of Cooking where we enrolled in a one-day cooking class covering all things Cajun. The star attraction that afternoon was Jambalaya, a Cajun creation which, as legend has it, mimics the Spanish Paella. I can see the similarities. In a one pot preparation, chicken, sausage, trinity, roux and rice are combined to make a stomach sticking, soul warming concoction whose taste is well, so uniquely southern. You all remember Trinity and Roux from my first column right? If not see my notes below for a refresher course!
The word Jambalaya is actually a combination of three roots. “Jambon” is the French word for ham. “A la” is of course the French phrase for “in the style of”. Finally, there’s ya, which is the African word for rice. All together now—Jambalaya.
In a basic preparation that could not be easier, Jambalaya is very forgiving. Of the hundreds of recipes for it, this recipe is but a blueprint. It’s a great starting point for additions like seafood or vegetables and in that the dish is so organic in nature (add in, take out) it begs for experimentation.
What follows is a brown Cajun Jambalaya rather than a red Creole Jambalaya, which includes tomatoes. Personally I love the taste of the brown roux without the addition of tomatoes, but if your instinct calls for tomatoes to be added, feel free to do so by adding a small can of chopped tomatoes into the mix.
This recipe serves 12, so if you are feeding a small army, it’s perfect. If you have smaller group, feel free to halve it. Enjoy!
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
4 chicken breasts with bone attached
1 ½ pounds smoked Cajun sausage or Andouille sausage, cut into ½ inch pieces
Trinity:
4 cups finely chopped onion
2 cups finely chopped celery
2 cups finely chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon garlic
1 heaping teaspoon Cajun seasoning (available in all spice sections of the Supermarket)
5 cups low sodium chicken stock
4 cups long grain rice
2 cups chopped green onions
1 stick of unsalted butter (optional and see note below)
Preheat the oven to 400F. In a large Dutch oven that is oven proof place the oil and add the chicken pieces, turning to coat. Season with salt and pepper and roast the chicken pieces for about 30 minutes until cooked through. The juices should run clear at the end of cooking. Remove the pot from the oven and let cool. Do not remove the drippings. Take the chicken off the bone, shred the chicken into small pieces and set aside.
Place the same Dutch oven over medium heat and sauté the sausage in the chicken drippings until lightly brown. Remove and set aside with the chicken. Into the chicken drippings, oil and sausage drippings that remain in the pot, add the flour and cook until the flour takes on a light brown color, about 4-5 minutes. This is of course the roux that will flavor the Jambalaya.
Immediately add the Trinity (onions, celery and bell pepper). Season with salt and pepper and sauté to your desired tenderness. This is where your instinct comes in. If you like crunchy vegetables, cook for just a minute or two. If you prefer the vegetables to melt into the Jambalaya, sauté them for 4 to 5 minutes. The vegetables will sweat out their liquid and release any brown bits on the bottoms of your Dutch oven.
Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or so to release the garlic flavor without burning it. Add the Cajun seasoning and 5 cups of stock and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the rice, chicken and sausage. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as you wish. If you are using a spicy sausage remember that the cayenne pepper in the sausage may add spice to the Jambalaya so season accordingly.
Cover and cook for a total of about 25 minutes. Taste the rice grains for doneness (see below) and then scatter the green onions on top and stir gently. Cover again and let the residual heat steam the green onions. If adding butter (see note below), do so now. Serve.
Serves 12
NOTE: Towards the end of cooking, taste the rice grains to see if tender. If they are not, add up to one additional cup of stock to continue to steam the rice until tender. Rice has qualities that sometimes require you to taste and adjust through the cooking process, and this is one of those times. Since we have added so many additional ingredients, and since rice itself has qualities that require more water or less water, this is just one of those times when you have to taste and adjust as you go along.
NOTE ON SEASONING: In this preparation, seasoning is so important because the liquid that is the basis for the Jambalaya will ultimately flavor the rice. So that being said, it is so important to season and taste as you go along with a nod to the completed dish which will take on the flavor of the liquid. My point is that if you over season the liquid, the rice will absorb that seasoned broth and over seasoning in this preparation is not a bad thing because the rice goes in without any seasoning whatsoever.
NOTE ON SAUSAGE: This is one of those occasions when I think smoked Cajun or Andouille sausage works perfectly. Find it in the smoked meats section of your grocery store.
NOTE ON TRINITY AND ROUX: Trinity is the traditional combination of onions, bell peppers and celery and is a variation on the French “Mirepoix” of onions, celery and carrot. Roux is the result of caramelizing flour in bacon drippings or lard or vegetable oil in order to flavor the later addition of stock or water.
NOTE ON ADDING BUTTER: I like to add one stick of unsalted butter at the end of the cooking process. After I scatter the green onions on top of the Jambalaya and stir it, I add one stick of butter and let the residual heat melt the butter. The creaminess of the butter in the Jambalaya adds another dimension of flavor that I just love. Although not traditional, the creamy texture that results reminds me of an Italian risotto.
