When I hear people speak French, I should be thinking of something much more refined like a great French artist or writer. Unfortunately, there is an inner comedian, and my mind goes to this old clip from Friends.
On another note, yesterday, we celebrated Fat Tuesday complete with Jambalaya and Paczki. The jambalaya was homemade, the paczki were not. The kids were so cute talking about their Lenten promises.
This recipe for jambalaya is easy, quick, and a little spicy. Brian did mention that he thought it could be a little hotter (in spice not temperature). So, I adjusted the Tobasco to be as much or as little as you want. Remember though, you can always get hotter but you cannot get cooler, so use with caution.
Also, when I do recipes with rice or pasta, I often make the rice and pasta separately. I have two reasons for this: 1.) It makes it more suitable to reheat leftovers. There is nothing worse than gummy pasta or rice. 2.) My kids will often eat rice with chicken but not a big bowl of jambalaya. So I just separate it for my own sanity.
Finally, I know biscuits are not a traditional accompaniment to jambalaya, but my friend Jocelyn shared this recipe and video on her blog, Grandbaby Cakes, this week and I could not help but try it. As you can see, the biscuits came out beautifully!
Don’t forget to grab a helper.
Fat Tuesday Jambalaya
1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 lb smoked turkey sausage cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1/2 lb large shrimp peeled and deveined
1 large bell pepper (I used red) diced
2 or 3 ribs of celery diced
1 large onion diced
1 bottle of your favorite beer
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes drained
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
1 package McCormick Gourmet Creole Jambalaya Spice Mix (or your favorite)
Tobasco sauce to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup prepared white or brown rice
In a large pot over medium to medium high heat add butter and oil. When the butter is melted add pepper, celery, and onion to the pot.
Let cook stirring occasionally for 3 or 4 minutes. Then add chicken and sausage to the pot. Cook until the chicken is cooked through about 5-7 mins. Stirring occasionally. Add the spice mixture and Tobasco sauce and stir until well incorporated. Next, add the beer and deglaze the pot.
When the beer is bubbling which might take 5 or so minutes add the tomatoes. Finally, add the shrimp and cook for another 5 minutes until the shrimp is just pink.
Serve over rice and if you want with homemade warm biscuits.
One comment
Looks awesome!