Woznation

This meal is legit.  The shepards pie and lasagna have been loose adaptations, but not this jumbalaya.  Probably because I took all my cues from Emeril’s Recipe.  This is phil’s current favorite meal, so I figured I better figure out what Im actually doing so we can continue to enjoy it for years to come.

As an aside, writing out these recipes has been so much fun for me.  It takes a lot longer to make a meal since I have all the measuring cups out and Im taking pictures along the way, but Im also constantly surprising myself: ‘I put a whole CUP of onions in this thing?’.  Ive always eye-balled things, so once I actually chop things up and measure them out, its never what I would have thought in my head.  Hence why this little project is so important!

Without further ado, Jumbalaya:

Sausage, chicken, scallops, chicken stock, rice, onion, green pepper, celery, garlic, crushed tomatoes.  With spices:

[I really have to get a better camera.  My kitchen is so dark!  Whenever I use a flash everything comes out so bright, but if I dont use the flash, everything is so blurry.  Ill work on it.]

I use andouille sausage, chicken breast, and scallops in this recipe.  But Ive had varying luck with finding scallops and andouille.  So I have used chorizo sausage and shrimp before.  Though I highly recommend the andouille and scallops if they are available.  I start by browning up 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the sausage.  Even though the sausage is already cooked, it renders off some fat and helps infuse the whole dish with the andouille flavor:

As that browns, I cut up the chicken and scallops into bite sized pieces and toss them in 1 teaspoon of creole seasoning.  I used 1 large chicken breast and 1/4 lb of scallops:

Ew. Raw meat.  So after the andouille is browned up – remove the pieces with tongs and set aside on a plate.  Then brown the chicken on all sides and remove to the plate.

Dont worry about the chicken being cooked all the way through, it will finish cooking later.  Just get some nice color (maybe a minute or 2 each side, tops) and then remove.  Then add your scallops.  Now, these cook so fast and will also finish cooking later.  So they are really going in the pan to get a nice quick sear – then get them out so they dont over cook.

Then you will have a nice plate of meat:

Warning.  The sausage will taunt you while you prepare everything else.  Depending on how hungry I am, it could be half gone by the time we are ready to add it back to the dish.

So lets deal with the veggies.  Onion, green pepper and celery are known as ‘the trinity’ in creole cooking.  And garlic is known as ‘ the pope’.  Coincidentally, there is a restaurant down the street called ‘trinity and the pope.’ A nickel for anyone who can guess the type of cuisine they serve.  For this recipe, I use a scant cup of diced onion, a heaping cup of chopped green pepper, and about 1/2 cup of diced celery.  I get the onion going first.

Depending on how much oil you have left from browning all your meats, you may need to add a little extra at this point, but probably not too much.  The onions will cook for 3-4 minutes, then you can add your green pepper and celery.

Then cook 3-4 minutes more.  You can add a little salt at this point to help the veggie release some water.  But its already probably pretty salty from the creole seasoning left behind from your meats, so dont dump in the salt blindly.  Taste, taste, taste.  After the veggies have cooked down, add a big ol’ pile of garlic.

This was 4 cloves, or about 3 tablespoons.  Once that is nice a fragrant,  add 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup of crushed tomatoes, 3/4 cups of brown rice, 1/8 tsp of oregano, 2 bay leaves and a pinch of cayenne pepper.  The cayenne is optional based on how spicy you like things.  You can always add it later if you’re afraid of going overboard.

My crushed tomatoes were frozen, so I chiseled out what I needed.  Thats why they look so weird.  Also, feel free to use chopped or diced tomatoes.  Phil doesnt love big chunks of tomato, so I always get the crushed – but I cant see why the form of tomato would make a huge difference.  So mix that all together and cook maybe 1-2 minutes (to defrost the tomatoes, in my case) and toast the rice a little bit.  Then add your chicken stock and 1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce.

I am using a whole grain brown rice (not instant).  So this requires a fair amount of chicken stock and a longer cooking time.  But if you have a quick cooking rice, use that.  Just pay attention to the liquid required on the back of the box and dont pay attention to my measurements.  The only thing is, since you are simmering this uncovered, you will most likey need at least 50% more liquid to cook the rice all the way through.  For my .75 cups of uncooked rice, I used 2.5 to 2.75 cups of chicken stock (back of the box originally recommended a 2-1 ratio).

So I brought the liquid up to a boil, then reduced down to a simmer for 25 – 30 minutes. (And tried my darndest to not eat all the andouille in the mean time…).  This is a good time to taste what you got going on though, and decide if you want it spicier or saltier.  I added a second dash of cayenne and a 1/4 teaspoon of extra creole at this point. Once your rice is almost done,  you can add your plate of meat back to the pan and remove your bay leaves.

Cook all together for the last 5-10 minutes until the rice is all the way done and your chicken and scallops have finished cooking.  And the final product will be amazing.

Confession.  This meal only served 2 portions that given night.  We usually at least get dinner and then some leftovers, but it was just too darn good!  If I was having people over, I would double this recipe and make it in a big stock pot.  I think a double recipe could serve 6 people.  But maybe thats wishful thinking!

Here is any easy copy/paste version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

.5 lbs of chicken breast

.25 lbs of scallops

.333 lbs of andouille sausage

1 tsp (plus more to taste) creole seasoning

1 cup onion

1 cup green pepper

.5 cups of celery

3 tablespoons of garlic

.5 – .75 cups of crushed tomatoes

.75 cups cups of whole grain brown rice

2 bay leaves

1/8 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

pinch cayenne

2.5  – 2.75 cups of chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

One at a time, brown andouille sausage, bite sized chicken, and scallops in large pan and remove to plate.  Set aside.  Add diced onion and a little bit more oil (as needed) to pan and saute 3-4 minutes.  Add green pepper and celery and cook 3-4 minutes longer.  Add garlic and cook for 1 additional minute.  Next add rice, tomatoes, bay leaves, oregano, and cayenne.  Cook together for 1-2 minutes then add your chicken stock and worcestershire sauce (Pay attention to the type of rice you are using. Follow instructions on back of box, but you will need slightly more liquid).  Bring everything up to boil, then reduce down to simmer and cook uncovered.  In my case, this was 25 – 30 minutes.  But could be much less depending on brand of rice.  Lastly, add meat back to mixture and remove bay leaves. Cook until meat is done all the way through and rice is soft (5-10 minutes).  Nom. Nom. Nom.