I didn't bother with a garnish BECAUSE THIS JAMBALAYA DOESN'T EVEN NEED ONE. It already looks delicious with the beautiful brown sausage and plump, juicy shrimp, so why bother with some parsley.
Time to get technical for a second. This is a cross between Cajun and Creole jambalaya. Creole jambalaya gets its color from tomatoes rather than from browned meat. It's sometimes referred to as red jambalaya. Cajun doesn't have tomatoes and requires browning the meat. It's sometimes referred to as brown jambalaya. Since I'm not from Louisiana and don't care about their silly distinctions, I enjoy the best of both worlds by browning the meat and adding tomatoes.
Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into large chunks
1 ring spicy sausage (andouille is traditional but not available everywhere) cut in large pieces
1 lb fresh shrimp peeled and de-veined with tails removed
1 large onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
3 stalks of celery chopped
5 cloves of garlic minced
1 14.5oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
1 C long-grain rice
3 C chicken stock
1 bay leaf
5 sprigs of thyme
Cajun seasoning
Don't bother buying Cajun seasoning because you probably have everything you need to make it.
Combine equal parts:
dried thyme
onion powder
garlic powder
paprika
cayenne pepper
black pepper
white pepper
You're going to need a large skillet with a teaspoon of olive oil over medium high heat. That skillet is also going to need a lid for later on. Throw the sausage in and let it get nice and brown. As they brown, take the chicken thighs and cut them into two inch chunks. Season them with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning.
Well this is already looking tasty. Take the sausage out of the pan and try not to eat them all as you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Start browning the chicken. You want it nice and brown because these two steps are going to add tons of flavor to the jambalaya. While the chicken cooks, chop the onion, celery, and red pepper, and mince the garlic. Fun fact: in Louisiana onion, peppers, and celery are known as the holy trinity.
The chicken is nice and brown as promised. Don't snack on the chicken; it's probably not fully cooked yet. Time to cook the veg, so add the holy trinity to the same pan along with a pinch of salt.
Beautiful colors here, but those vegetables are still very raw.
Much better. They've cooked a little and they soaked up some the fond from the chicken and sausage. At this point I'd added the garlic and let that cook for a minute as well. Now the broth that the rice cooks in gets made. Take a can of whole tomatoes and drain the liquid into the pan. Then crush the tomatoes with your hands and add them to the pan as well. Warning: the tomatoes will shoot juice all over your kitchen if you're not careful. Make sure to gently puncture them and squeeze out the juice before you get too crazy with your crushing. You can use a can of crushed tomatoes if you want, but you actually get chunks of tomato if you crush them yourself. Once the tomatoes are crushed add three cups of chicken stock, the bay leaf, and the thyme sprigs, which you should wrap with butcher's twine. Taste the broth and if it needs it add salt and pepper. If you'd like it spicier add cajun seasoning.
Ooooh now we're getting somewhere. When you've added the liquid make sure to scrape up any fond left on the pan after you've cooked your vegetables. Now I just let this simmer for about 30 minutes. If you're rushed, skip that, but it will help your broth develop. Then you bring the mixture to a boil, add the rice, and take it back down to low. Cover the pan. Now here's where things get a little wacky. The rice is regular long-grain rice, but it doesn't cook the same way that regular white rice does. This is actually going to cook for about an hour, which is like 40 minutes longer than traditional white rice. There's also more liquid here than regular white rice. Good news though, you're actually supposed to stir it very minimally, so you can mostly forget it at this point. Stir it every 15 minutes or close to it.
This is after an hour. Yum. Now the shrimp are already cooked in this picture, but this about the level of liquid you should have after an hour, which is why I wanted to show it now. There should be a little visible liquid bubbling in the center, but when you stir it should disappear. If the jambalaya starts to look like there isn't enough liquid while it cooks, just add some more chicken stock. If after an hour you have a whole lot of liquid still, just let it simmer for a while longer. Anyway, when you have about this level of liquid throw some salt and pepper on the shrimp, and put them in the pan to cook for about 5 minutes.
Soooo delicious. Since everything is cooking together in the same pan all of the flavors meld into every ingredient. And that is a good thing. The starch in the rice also makes it weirdly creamy, and I mean that in a positive way. It makes the jambalaya have a wonderful texture. I just realized today is Mardi Gras. What a completely random and totally genuine coincidence! Well I guess that gives you a reason to try this!
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