Day: September 7, 2007

thanks to jess, josh, meg (alphabetical order here) and parkview i was able to treat the professors within the communicative disorders department of uwsp to a ton of jambalaya. if you remember meg, josh, jess (reverse alphabetical order) and parkview gave me a jambalaya kit as a going away gift. today was my first attempt at making jambalaya by myself (josh showed me how but i’ve never done it by myself). i have to say that though it was a little mild for my taste it still went pretty well. i learned a lot and the jambalaya didn’t turn out half bad. one of the first things i learned was to plan for more time. many of the short cuts that were available in baton rouge are not found in wisconsin. i had to produce my own trinity rather than just buying it. i’m also going to have to look around for a better source of pork sausage and chicken thighs. i think i can figure that out.

for anyone who is interested (and for purposes of arching this information) here’s is the recipe that josh hooked me up with:

ingredients

• oil
• sausage (manda or savioe’s mild pork sausage… hot is too hot, garlic is nasty)
• chicken (boneless skinless thighs work best)
• vegetables (onion, bell pepper, celery… the pre-cut mix works great)
• rice (1 pound for every six people… use long grain rice)
• seasoning (red pepper, black pepper, salt, garlic salt, etc… or Tony’s)
• kitchen bouquet (to make sure it is the right color)
• optional: sometimes I throw in a pound of breakfast sausage and a pound of andouille)

ratios

• 2# meat
• 1# rice
• 1# vegetables

instructions

• heat oil (just enough to cover the bottom of the pot)
• brown meat
• brown sausage first, then take it out
• brown chicken in the sausage drippings, then take it out
• sauté vegetables until they are wilted and liquidy
• add water to sautéed vegetables
• add seasoning to taste (it needs to be too salty, everything else is up to your preference)
• add kitchen bouquet to darken
• add browned meat
• let it simmer for an hour if possible
• crank the heat up and bring it to a rolling boil
• add rice and let it boil for 5 minutes (stir just enough to keep it from sticking)
• lower heat, put lid on, let it sit for 12 minutes (don’t take the lid off)
• remove lid, pull rice from the sides and let the water run down the inside of the pot… put lid back on and let it sit for 12 minutes
• remove lid, turn the jambalaya over and let it steam (lid off) for 5 minutes
• (the 5, 12, 12, 5 timing is key)

of course, the most important part of making jambalaya is having a good “feel” for things and therefore having josh’s recipe is not the same thing as having josh’s skill.