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Spicy Delicious Jambalaya

May 3, 2009 at 11:30 am | Posted in Cookbooks, Dinner | 4 Comments

Last week was spicy seafood week! I continued our excitingly flavored fare by making jambalaya! The recipe that I adapted from New Best Recipe was enough to feed 5 of us with leftovers for lunch. Ned and Bob, (my true and honest food critics) enjoyed it thoroughly. I will definitely be making this again!

It was truly a well spent afternoon in the kitchen (even with the bum knee!). Check out the recipe below.

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, trimmed and quartered lengthwise
1 medium celery rib, cut crosswise into quarters
1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered lengthwise
5 medium garlic cloves, peeled
2 tsp vegetable oil
4 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
12 oz andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 cups long grain rice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 large bay leaves
1 lb large shrimp (31 to 40 per lb)
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves

Directions:
1) In a food processor, pulse the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic until chopped fine, about 6 1 second pulses, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Do not overprocess; the vegetable should not be pureed.
2) Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, turn the chicken and cook until golden brown on the second side, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium and add the andouille; cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
3) Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the chopped veggie and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, until the veggies have softened, about 4 minutes. Add the rice, salt, thyme, and cayenne; cook, stirring frequently, until the rice is coated with far, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, broth, bay leaves and browned sausage to the pot, stir to combine. Remove and discard the skin from the chicken; place the chicken, skinned-side down, on the rice. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir once, keeping the chicken on top. Replace the cover and continue to simmer until the chicken is no longer pink (10 minutes more). Transfer the chicken to a clean plate and set aside. Scatter the shrimp over the rice, cover and continue to cook until the rice is fully tender and the shrimp are opaque and cooked through, about 5 minutes more.
4) While the shrimp are cooking, shred the chicken with your fingers into thin strands. When the shrimp are cooked, discard the bay leaves. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and shredded chicken, serve immediately.

Now the rice may have been a bit overcooked, but the meats and seasoning were perfect!