Jambalaya...

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JAMBALAYA

Joshua “Bubba” Hebert

The most important part about a jambalaya is having time to do it. It is not the type of dish that can be done without a little TLC and it is best to use a cured black iron pot if you have one. It is also very important to use the right proportions so that your rice, vegetables and meat will come together just right.

Knowing how much jambalaya your pot can handle is a little tricky the first time, but for every pound of rice you need 1 quart of water/chicken stock, ½ pound of vegetables, and 2 pounds of meat. I usually don’t count the bacon itself as part of the 2 pounds of meat, but you need it for the flavor and the grease.


Long grain parboiled rice is the easiest to use but if your are feeling adventurous after a few times you can use regular long grain white rice.

Here’s the ingredient list:

Yellow onions
Bell peppers
Green onions
Garlic crushed
Sliced mushrooms (optional)
1lb of smoked bacon diced (you can use less if you’re doing a small batch with a 1lb. of rice)
1 qt of Chicken Stock (most are quart sized for ease)
1 bottle of granulated chicken bouillon
Manda Green Onion smoked sausage
Rice
Pork (Boston butt) cut into cubes 1-2 inches squared
Kitchen B0uquet if needed for color hopefully you won’t

Prep:

First get you some beer because no good chef cooks without it “I Guarantee” (a la Justin Wilson); plus it helps pass the time while you are cooking and solving the world’s problems.

I marinate my Boston butt in Worchestershire, oil, garlic salt, Tony’s and liquid smoke just enough to coat the chunks; let sit, the longer the better. I also marinate my smoked green onion sausage in liquid smoke, but be careful with the liquid smoke it is very powerful.

You want to cut your fresh vegetables just before cooking or the night before at the longest; if you must you can get fresh cut vegetables (Guidry’s) but don’t be lazy and get frozen vegetables.

Cooking:

Start with cooking the diced bacon until it is almost completely cooked.
Add pork with marinade and cook until tender. This is a very gray area on how much to cook the pork; I like to cook it until it is completely done and tender, others like to just brown the meat. In my opinion it never comes out tender enough if you do not completely cook it.
About ten minutes before the pork is done put the sausage in.
Once all of this is cooked next add your chicken stock/water, your rice and granulated boulli0n. It will ALWAYS look like you have too much water, its ok if you follow the proportions I talked about at the beginning.
Now depending on how good your pot is will depend on how much you have to do from here. If you have a crappy pot you will likely need to stir to prevent sticking of the rice. If you have a great pot you won’t need to stir as often, and most pots are somewhere in the middle. A heavy lid will help to steam the rice, and if you don’t have one consider using a layer of aluminum foil under the lid.
Get the water to a rolling boil then reduce heat and stir occasionally. When the water has cooked out of the pot try your rice, if done you are ready to serve. If not quite cooked turn off fire and cover your pot, it will continue to steam/cook so check rice every so often.
Notes:

Chicken can also be substituted in place of the pork. I would put the chicken in at the same time as the sausage and don’t overcook the chicken. Remember chicken will dry out and start to get stringy if cooked too long.

There are always different recipes for each Cajun dish which make our cooking very unique. Please take this recipe and use it as a base to find out what you like to use or not use.

A lot of people use Tabasco/hot sauce and tomato paste/diced tomatoes, I have used both and don’t feel like it adds anything extra to the recipe except one more step and I think there are enough steps as it is.

Consider white beans as a side.

Don’t expect to get it right the first time, its not the easiest dish to cook. Try a small jambalaya first then graduate to bigger sizes. Cook for family and friends before cooking for strangers, we often take criticism from people we know better than others.