Sunday, April 5, 2009

Spicy Creole Jambalaya

Here's a fabulous Cajun favorite that will feed a crowd or freeze well in individual portions. Since this was my godmother's recipe, I have many fond memories of eating this dish over at Nanny Bea's house. She used to make jambalaya on Mondays to make use of the leftover chicken, ham,  or sausage from Sunday dinner. It's smoky, spicy flavor is oh so good. Cest' bon, by itself or as a hearty side dish. The great thing about making jambalaya is that you can use any ingredients that you have on hand and experiment with different amounts of heat and spice, and adjust accordingly. I like my mine spicy and hot! Enjoy!
 
Spicy Creole Jambalaya

 
1 cup each, cooked ham, smoked sausage, and/ or chicken,
(chopped into bite sized pieces)
1/2 stick butter
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 tsp.'s garlic, minced
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained
2 tbs.'s Worcestershire sauce
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce,
3 cups water
1 tbs. creole seasoning
2 cups raw rice

  
On medium heat, melt butter in large Dutch oven, and add onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic, and saute for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, stir and cook for 5 more minutes. Add chopped cooked ham, sausage, and/ or chicken and creole seasoning and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce , Worcestershire sauce, and water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, add rice, stir and cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serves 8 Bon Appetit!

10 comments:

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

Mmmm-sounds good! I love all in one dishes :)
Is there any particular rice that you use-or is any rice fine for the Jambalaya?
I have basmathi and sona massouri at home!

Marguerite said...

Thanks, Sweta!! Any rice would work well with this recipe. However, since Cajun white rice is grown in abundance, in Cajun Country, it is the rice of choice, here. California Brown Basmati is one of my favorites.

Anonymous said...

Hi There - Just finished making this dish and it looks & smells amazing. Just wondering how would I make this saucier? All of the sauce that was there about an hour ago has been soaked up by the rice. Thank you!

Marguerite said...

Anonomous- Hi and welcome! You could add a little bit of chicken stock, in the last 10 minutes of cooking, to make it more moist. Thanks for trying the recipe! Happy New Year!

Erika said...

Hi! I just made this recipe and it looks, smells and tastes delicious! Thanks for sharing it.

Laura said...

Found your website looking for "things to do with leftover ham" and made this amazing Spicy Creole Jambalaya and I have to say it's the best tasting Jambalaya I've had since we were in New Orleans a few years ago. We will definitely be trying this again with shrimp, chicken and anything else I can find to throw in. The balance of the flavors was absolutely perfect! Thank you SO much for sharing!

Unknown said...

I made seafood gumbo for our post Christmas party this year. Now you've made me hungry for jambalaya! And....maybe some Pascal's Manale bread pudding:) Happy New Year.

Martha said...

Oh yum, this is wonderful! Thanks so much for linking it up to Tailgating Time! :-)

Anonymous said...

20
minutes to go before my Jambalaya is finished. Smells delicious!

Kitchen Benchtops said...

Great post! Off for something to eat now. Talking about food is making me hungry! Thanks for recipe...