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.
That’s just wrong