Dad’s Jambalaya

I am so excited to share that I got my grubby little paws on my dad’s jambalaya recipe. Jambalaya is one of my FAVORITE meals ever and I finally have been present to observe the process from behind the curtain. Marky Mark makes some edits to the recipe – like doing half sweet half hot sauage – you could do 2LB of one or the other if you prefer. He stressed that the most important part of the recipe is making your own chicken broth, or ‘liquid gold’ as he calls it. Plan for two days to make this, so you can make the broth the day before. Makes about 8-10 servings but I don’t recommend sharing. I also highly recommend asking your loved ones for their recipes, food strengthens connections.

Ingredients

Chicken Broth:

• 1 small fryer chicken
• 1 rib celery with leaves
• 1 onion, halved
• 1 clove garlic

Jambalaya:

• 2 cups long grain rice
• 1 LB Ground Italian sausage
• 1 LB Ground Hot Sausage
• ½ stick butter
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red pepper
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 large bay leaf
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• 2 teaspoons salt.
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon Tabasco
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• Shredded chicken

Let’s Get Cooking

In a large pot, cover chicken with water; add celery, onion, garlic; boil until tender, about 1 hour. Reserve stock.

Remove chicken meat from bones once cooled and reserve. In 5 cups stock, cook rice until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.

In a Dutch oven, cook the ground sausage until cooked thoroughly about 5-8 minutes. Remove meat. Add butter to pan and sauté onion, pepper, and parsley until tender, about 3 minutes. Add chicken abd sausage; stir in garlic, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper, and Tabasco. Add cooked rice and mix thoroughly. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes, sitrring frequently.

Remove the bay leaf and serve.

Made with Love,

Hannah