Jambalaya

Here's my recipe/guide for making one of my favorite one-pot comfort foods...Jambalaya! While there are no connections with this dish to Newfoundland or New England (its actually a cajun dish from New Orleans), I feel it has a lot of appeal to east coast palettes and lifestyles. For one, what's better than a warm one-pot, hearty meal on a cold winter evening such as we have outside right now. Secondly it has great ingredients available year round, and includes chicken, sausage and shrimp, all ingredients we love here down-east. While whole or diced gulf shrimp are traditional down in the south, I like to use whole Maine or Newfoundland cold water shrimp in my jambalaya. One of the beauties about a dish like this is that you can interchange ingredients based on what you have and what you like. It can be all meat, all seafood, with sausage, without sausage, chicken breast, or chicken thighs, white rice or brown rice. You get the picture. The key here is to have good quality ingredients, cook the rice just right and have it all well seasoned with creole spice. You can use a store bought cajun or creole spice mix or just make your own.

Here's how I like to make mine. I use either boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, and good andouille sausage if I can find it. If not I substitute Spanish chorico sausage.

Cajun Jambalaya (serves 6)

Ingredients:
4-6 ounces of andouille sausage (or other similar dry pork sausage), cut in to 1/4 inch thick slices
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 6 boneless, skinless thighs), cut into 1 inch cubes
8 ounces uncooked shrimp
1 large yellow onion, 1/4 inch dice,
1 stalk celery, halved and diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3-5 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced (optional)
1 cup long grain rice (white or brown)
1 large tomato, diced
3 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp Creole Seasoning (recipe follows), plus a sprinkle at the end

Directions:

I like to first saute the sliced andouille sausage, reserve and then saute the chicken in the drippings and reserve it. I then saute the vegetables, followed by the rice, seasoning and stock, and finish with the shrimp and reserved sausage and chicken. I finish it off with some fresh parsley and hot sauce to taste.

In a large, deep skillet, saute slice sausage over medium heat until browned and it has released some of its fat.Reserve the sausage to the side. Turn heat to medium high and sear the cubed chicken in the drippings. Season with a little Creole. spice. Brown the chicken but don't worry about cooking it all the way through as it will go back in the mix. Once browned, set aside.

In the same pan, add a tablespoon of oil if necessary and add the onion, celery and diced peppers. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook for a minute or so. Add the rice and remaining tablespoon of Creole spice and coat the rice in the oil and vegetables. Add the bay leaf and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook (stirring occasionally) until the rice is tender and the liquid is mostly absorbed...about 15 minutes. Add the raw little shrimps, the sausage and chicken, mix well and cover. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes or so until the shrimp and chicken are completely cooked and the rice is done. Serve with parsley and a few splashes of hot sauce if you like a little more heat. The sausage should pack a little punch. Enjoy!


Wicked Good Creole Seasoning
Combine the following spices in a jar with a tight fitting lid.
4 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
2 Tbsp Garlic powder
2 Tbsp Onion Powder
2 Tbsp Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Ground Thyme
1 Tbsp dried Oregano
1 Tbsp Kosher Salt

Sausage, Peppers and Penne

A Wicked Scoff has been on the road quite a bit recently, as I have been all over New England for my archaeological consulting work. While the weather, hiking and fall scenery was awesome, I am glad to be home again, cooking my own meals. I did however have many good scoffs at restaurants, pizza dives and diners in various towns, eating many bowls of clam chowder and oven toasted grinders (aka subs or hoagies), as well as some really good Thai food, an incredible grass fed organic black angus burger, farm raised elk, and too many grilled Reuben sandwiches to count. Some of the best places I ate was the Common Man's "Boiler Room" in Plymouth New Hampshire and the Black Door in Montpelier Vermont.

This weekend I will be cooking up a storm of my own, and have some new favorites dishes to share, notably a roasted butternut squash soup with caramelized shallots and a splash of Octoberfest beer. In the meantime, here is a quick and simple recipe for one of my all time favorite pasta dishes which I often make during the work week. Make sure to make enough for leftovers to bring to work.

Italian Sausage, Peppers and Penne

For this meal, I use hot Italian sausage, but you can use sweet sausage just the same. I like red bell peppers for this, but it is fine to use any colour of bell pepper, green, red, orange or yellow. The same holds true for the pasta, use whatever you have. Penne is classic for sausage and peppers, so that's what I like (I use a multigrain). Other than that, some olive oil, garlic, red onion, fresh parsley, and real Parmesan cheese are all the ingredients you'll need. Pretty simple.

To begin, bring about an inch of water to a simmer in a deep skillet, preferably one with a lid.
Add 1 pound of sausage , cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remover the lid and continue to simmer until the water has evaporated. Continue to cook the sausage until browned on all sides. Be sure not to poke, prod and pierce the sausage. Let the fat, flavour and juices remain inside where they belong. Once the sausages have browned nicely, set aside in a warm oven while the onions, garlic and peppers cook.

While the sausages are cooking, prepare your vegetables and get a large pot of salted water on the boil. Follow package directions for the pasta and cook until al dente.

For the veggies, thinly slice
- 1 large red onion, halved and sliced
- 2 large/3 medium red bell peppers

Once the sausage is cooked, add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to the pan and set heat to medium high
Saute the onions and peppers until tender and slightly caramelized...about 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium and add
- a pinch of salt and pepper
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced/smashed
- 1 tsp of dried oregano or Italian seasoning

Cook for a couple of minutes and return sausage to the skillet. Drain the cooked pasta and add to the skillet.

Add a drizzle of olive oil and a handful of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley.
Plate the pasta, and two sausages per serving.
Grate a healthy portion of Parmesan cheese over the plate a,d add more freshly ground pepper.


Enjoy!