Cajun Jambalaya

Fat Tuesday is fast approaching and with it the requirement to enjoy true N’awlins style cuisine. Years and years ago I worked at a casino and made friends with a nice guy who’d just moved to the Seattle area from Louisiana. One of his hobbies was sharing his Southern food with us “Yanks.” He’d set up a booth at local festivals and dish out dirty rice, red beans, and jambalaya in Styrofoam clamshells with a healthy sprinkling of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning – the only true Creole seasoning according to that Southern boy.

His jambalaya recipe was my first foray into the intriguing world of Cajun and Creole cooking, a style of cooking so rich in history and tradition you can’t help but be sucked into it. I’ve never looked back.

This is a Cajun style jambalaya, that is sans tomatoes. It relies on the browned sausage and chicken to deepen the flavor and a precise ratio of liquid to rice to get the final dish perfectly fluffy instead of soupy like its Creole cousin.

When you’re browning the sausage and chicken, really give it a chance to let the Maillard reaction take place – this is where you get that nice brown crust and those lovely little browned bits that stick to the bottom of the pot, also known as “the fond.” It’s this browning reaction that creates the nice deep flavor we crave in so many Southern dishes. Use a little oil in the pan, and try not to use a nonstick pan if you can. It will still work with nonstick pan, just not quite as well in my experience.

Really give the meat a few minutes to cook – don’t go fiddling around with it, pushing it around. If you give it a little nudge with your cooking utensil and it doesn’t want to move, listen. Leave it alone for a little while longer and it will be ready to give way – that’s when you know the browning reaction has taken place.

Also, make sure you don’t crowd the pan too much. If there isn’t enough room around each piece of meat for the water to evaporate, you’re going to end up with steamed sausage and chicken – not browned.

Cajun Jambalaya

1 lb. smoked sausage or kielbasa, in bite size pieces

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

3 celery ribs, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 bunch scallions, chopped

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup rice

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning (no substitutes)

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350F

In a heavy Dutch oven (enameled cast iron works great) brown the sausage over med-high heat, adding a little oil if necessary to catalyze the browning. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Brown the chicken, then remove with a slotted spoon to the same bowl as the sausage. Add the green bell pepper, onion, and celery. Cook over medium heat until the vegetables start to soften. Add the garlic and scallions and cook for about a minute further, using the juices from the veggies to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the sausage and chicken pieces back into the pan and pour in the chicken stock and rice. Add the remaining ingredients and give it a good stir to thoroughly combine. Cover the pot with the lid and move to the oven for 25 minutes. Check the rice, if it’s tender then it’s finished. If it’s still got a little bite to it give it a few minutes longer. Let stand uncovered for 5 minutes, fluff with a fork and serve with extra Tony Chachere’s on the side.