PROJECT OF THE DAY: Jambalaya

I was looking inside my fridge and I noticed there were 3 big bowls of leftover rice. Not wanting to let it go to waste, I decided that I had to make something out of it. After a little thought, I decided that this would be perfect to make a nice big pot of Jambalaya. I first tried this dish from my old college roomy.(Shannon, if you're reading this....thank you for adding this dish to my food repertoire!) Her version of the dish was pretty spicy (which I loved!) and a little on the thicker, and richer side. I definitely enjoyed eating it, but when I tried to make it on my own, for some reason it just wouldn't turn out the same. So I decided to come up with my own recipe. I researched several recipes online, but a lot of the recipes called for simmering it for 2-3 hours. I personally am not patient enough to wait that long. So I did some tweaking, and based on those recipes I read, I created my own recipe that only takes about an hour and fit my personal tastes. So here it is!

JAMBALAYA

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic. Minced
3 bell peppers (I used 2 red and 1 green)
2 bay leaves
2 tsps. crushed red chili flakes
2 packages of smoked sausage, sliced (about 2 lbs) or 1 lb smoked sausage + 2 cups cooked chicken
*I actually added the 2 packs of sausage plus about a cup of leftover chicken I had*
1 (32-ounce) can of tomato puree
1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
4 tbs. Cajun Creole Seasoning (what's in it? i do not know)
2 tbs. chili powder
½ – 1 tsp. Cayenne pepper (you can adjust more or less depending how spicy you like it)
½ cup scallions, diced

Directions:
1.Pan fry the sausage in a large pot so that it gets a little crispy on the outside and gets a nice color to it. Once the sausage is done, scoop it out into a bowl and set it aside.
2.Use the oil that came out of the sausage to saute the onions. (if there isn't enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot add a little extra oil until the bottom of the pot is coated) Once the onions have softened, add the garlic and saute a couple more minutes,stirring occasionally. Next add the bay leaves and chili flakes. Saute it for a few minutes so that the flavors infuse. Next add the bell peppers and saute until softened.
3.Add all tomato products. Stir and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
4.Add chicken stock, Cajun creole seasoning, chili powder, and cayenne. Stir and let simmer for another 15-20 minutes.
5.Add the meat into the sauce. Then add the scallions in at the last minute for some color.
6.Pour the sauce over a bowl of rice and it's ready to serve!



The final product came out just as I had hoped. The consistency was just right, it wasn't too thick and the spice was just right. I didn't make it too spicy this time around, but there was definitely enough to please a heat lover like myself. I like this recipe because of the fact that you stir in precooked rice with the sauce as opposed to cooking uncooked rice in the sauce itself. I find that when you cook the rice in the sauce the rice ends up a little stickier, which I am not a fan of. I should probably mention, though, that all the leftover rice I used was a little dry/undercooked so I actually dumped all the rice into the pot with the sauce and stirred it together and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Which gave it enough time to soften to just the right texture and to soak up not only the sauce but all that delicious smokey tomato-ey goodness. I also topped it off with extra green onions because I love the taste, plus it made it look prettier. This recipe can easily feed at least 10 hungry people, so be prepared to feed a small army if you make this!