7th Dish Jambalaya from USA

As the USA is a fairly new country and all its population are immigrants, it hasn’t had time to develop its unique culinary identity. I didn’t want to cook a Turkey, or a Burger so when my wife suggested I cook something from the states I initially at a loss of what to cook.

Then I remembered about the Cajun community. As far as I understand it, a number of different ethnic communities settled in the Deep South and produced their own unique cultural identity. (The rest of the world could take valuable lessons from these folks.) Obviously that included food, so I started to look for a suitable recipe. 

So eventually I settled on cooking a Jambalaya.

The next issue was which one, if you ever type Jambalaya recipe into Google, you’ll soon discover there are literally thousands of different recipes. The ones I looked at had their own unique twist on cooking this dish.

I hope the recipe I eventually picked does justice to the folks in Louisiana. 

 Ingredients

300 g (10½ oz) skinless boneless chicken breasts (fillets)
2 tsp Cajun seasoning (see note below)
1 tsp dried sage or marjoram
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, seeded and sliced
2 celery sticks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400 g (14 oz) basmati rice
1 litre (1¾ pints) chicken stock, preferably home-made
100 g (3½ oz) chorizo sausage. 
1 can Italian cherry tomatoes, or 1 can chopped tomatoes, about 400 g
Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper
To garnish
4–6 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
coarsely chopped parsley

Method

• Cut the chicken into 2 cm (¾ in) cubes. Sprinkle with the Cajun seasoning and the sage or marjoram, making sure that the chicken is coated all over.
• Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large flameproof casserole or pan over a moderately high heat, add the chicken and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cubes are browned on all sides. Remove from the pan with a draining spoon.
• Add the remaining oil to the pan with the onion, green pepper and celery, and fry for about 2 minutes, stirring. Add the garlic and rice, and fry for another minute. 
•  Pour in the stock and stir well. 
• Return the chicken to the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the ham and canned tomatoes with their juice. Cook, covered, for a further 5–10 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.

 
 

This is the first recipe my family has whole heartily loved. I was hope there would be enough leftover for me to eat for lunch the following day, alas there was non left.

I would give this recipe 9.5 out of 10. That’s only because it’s the first time I’ve cooked it and I’m sure given time I’d be able to prefect it further.

Ammo