Pictorial: Jambalaya!

A versatile dish that combines cooked rice with a variety of ingredients including tomatoes, onion, bell peppers and almost any kind of meat, poultry or shellfish. [1]

ingredients

3 X celery stalk (chopped)
6-8 X celery green/leaves (optional, garnish)
3 X onion (diced)
1 X big bell pepper (diced)
3 X chicken breast (sliced)
4 X scallion (sliced)
4 X garlic clove (mashed/pressed)
1-2 CUP long grain rice (cooked and ready)
2 CUP tomato puree
1 CUP chicken stock
1 CUP small shrimp
1 CUP big gamba / prawn
1 CUP smoked sausage (something nice and spicy, sliced)
2-3 TBSP spice mix (see below for details)
2-3 TBSP worcester sauce
2-3 TBSP honey
1-2 TSP salt and pepper to taste

spice mix (dry and ground)

2 parts onion
2 parts garlic
2 parts oregano
2 parts basil
1 parts thyme
1 parts cayenne
1 parts celery seed
2 parts sweet paprika
2 parts hot paprika
1 parts black pepper
1 parts white pepper

the parts can be scaled from a teaspoon to a ton, always handy for dry rubs, marinates, etc

my last batch came to an end, so I'm able to share how I made a new one:

I've bought the spices in 40 gram units, dumped them in an airproof jar



gave it a good shake and now I'm all set for the next few month



first some prep, it's handy to have everything ready, less multi-tasking while cooking



place the sausage in a cold pot and crank up the heat, gently render some fat while
sauteing the smoked sausage slices, no need to brown them



remove and park the sausage, but keep its fat, add the chicken to the pot



brown the chicken thoroughly, remove and park on a plate together with the sausage



add the holy trinity (onion, celery, bell pepper) and saute until the onion pieces soften up



deglaze the pot with half a cup of chicken stock, add pressed garlic, scrape the pots' bottom



then add tomato puree, two table spoons of the spice mix, worcester sauce, honey and stir well



add chicken, sausage, crustaceans, scallions and stir gentle, simmer on medium to low heat



after 15 min it should look quite homogeneous, the crustaceans have changed their color and cooked through, fine-tune the seasoning carefully with salt and pepper

(here I'd like to point out how versatile this is recipe is, e.g.
-pasta with the sauce as it is and some crumbled feta on top, very very good
-add more chicken stock and it's a delicious soup
-leave out chicken, sausage, crustaceans and just add rice for a spicey sidedish)



add rice to make Jambalaya

hint: cooked rice makes it easier to balance sauce and rice, but it's also possible to cook the rice in the sauce by just adding another cup of stock and some uncooked rice, this would take additional 15-20 min



serve steaming hot, garnish with some of the celery green



this recipe is good for around six servings, but be prepared:
requests for seconds and thirds are inevitable ;)

rewarmed leftovers taste even better, well ... IF there are any