2009-07-25

I love jambalaya

So I thought it would be nice to share the recipe that I use. WARNING: This recipe has been fully bachelorized and will not win any Cajun cooking contests. Bachelorization is the process of making food preparation faster and often requires fewer ingredients. My version is kind of a cross between Cajun and Creole jambalaya, sometime called "white jambalaya" since the protein spends less time cooking with the rice. This will feed 1-3 people.

1 cup white rice (You can use brown, but your jambalaya will shed it's bachelorized status due to the longer cooking time.)
2 cups water
1 pound sausage (Preferably Andouille, but good luck finding any locally. You can use chicken, shrimp, etc if you prefer.)
1/2 diced green bell pepper (I've tried a few different kinds, they are all about the same to me.)
Salt (Sea salt or plain iodine. You may want to avoid anything pre-spiced.)
Pepper (If you don't grind your own pepper, I hate you.)
Cayenne pepper

I don't use onions or celery because they tend to overpower the flavors that I like. Jambalaya devotees will think less of you for that. So if you use them, a half onion is more than enough. I was using about a quarter onion when I decided to stop buying them. And maybe 2 stalks of celery. I don't know, I never cared for it.

Cook the rice for 20 minutes, or however long your variant requires. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper right at the start. You will need to experiment with those seasonings in order to get it right. I haven't tried "minute rice" since I expect that it doesn't have enough time to absorb the flavors properly. Add the diced pepper when you have about 8 minutes left for the rice. This keeps the pepper from getting mushy and will retain it's taste.

Cook the sausage in a large skillet. Most sausage is pre-cooked and only needs to be heated, but I prefer to brown the cut ends. I add a bit of oil to help prevent sticking and burning since I cook on higher heat than necessary. I cook them on the cut ends, and spread them out so each piece is cooking at the same time (no stacking). Add salt, pepper, and cayenne if you prefer (I do).

Add the sausage to the rice before the rice is done cooking, at least 4 minutes and I don't know of a maximum time. Don't be afraid to let some of the oil get in the mix, but separating it is fine. That's it, you're done. Let it cool if you're a wimp. Eat it out of the saucepan if you're awesome.

An easier way to explain this is: Cook rice with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Dice up a half of a green bell pepper and add it when the rice has 8 minutes left. Add 1 pound of heated (browned) sausage giving it at least 4 minutes time with the rice (more time is better).

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