Entree Recipes

Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya for Fat Tuesday

Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya for Fat Tuesday


There is nothing like home cooked Jambalaya and a King Cake to get that good ol’ New Orleans feelin’. I haven’t exactly been to New Orleans, but it has been a tradition in my family to feast on tasty Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya for Fat Tuesday. We like to have company over to celebrate the end of Mardi Gras, and the beginning of Lent (not that we actually observe Lent), with a Fat Tuesday feast. I take pleasure in finding ways to celebrate all kinds of holidays in fun and unique ways. Since we can’t join in on the real fun in New Orleans, during Mardi Gras, we have our own party with the kids and whatever company we can find.

It was a few of years ago, for Fat Tuesday, that my mom decided to experiment with a Jambalaya recipe and a King Cake. We. Fell. In. Love. Between the aromas of the sausage, bay leaf, cumin and more, it just smells like comfort food! We have Rachael Ray to thank for the Jambalaya recipe. We don’t eat Jambalaya often, and really only eat it on Fat Tuesday as a tradition. It is so tasty though that I can’t think of why we wouldn’t eat it other times. I suppose it is for the same reason we don’t make pumpkin pies in the Spring. There is a type of nostalgia that goes along with it.

Do you celebrate or feast on Fat Tuesday? If not, perhaps you should start! Be sure to also check out my King Cake recipe and learn what fun we have with that!

Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya for Fat Tuesday
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6-8
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups enriched white rice
  • 1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, once around the pan
  • 1 Tbs butter
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless white or dark meat chicken
  • ¾ pound andouille, casing removed and diced
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
  • Several drops hot sauce or 2 pinches cayenne pepper
  • 2 to 3 Tbs (a handful) all-purpose flour
  • 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1(14-ounce) can or paper container chicken stock or broth
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 rounded tsp dark chili powder
  • 1 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 pound medium shrimp, raw, deveined and peeled (ask for easy peel at fish counter)
  • Coarse salt and black pepper
  • Chopped scallions, for garnish
  • Fresh thyme, chopped for garnish
Instructions
  1. Cook rice to package directions.
  2. Place a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and butter to the pan. Cube chicken and place in hot oil and butter. Brown chicken 3 minutes, add sausage, and cook 2 minutes more. Add onion, celery, pepper, bay, and cayenne.
  3. Saute vegetables 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the pan and cook 1 or 2 minutes more, until you have kind of a roux.
  4. Stir in tomatoes and broth and season with cumin, chili, poultry seasoning, and Worcestershire. Bring liquids to a boil and add shrimp.
  5. Simmer shrimp 5 minutes until pink and firm.
  6. Remove the pot from the heat.
  7. Ladle jambalaya into shallow bowls. Using an ice cream scoop, place a scoop of rice on to the center of the bowlfuls of jambalaya. Sprinkle dishes with salt, pepper, chopped scallions, and thyme leaves.

 

About the author

Emily Buys

6 Comments

  • Thanks for the link Karine. Could there be a difference between cajun jambalaya and other jambalaya? I don’t know how authentic my recipe is to New Orleans, but in doing some research, it appears that many people refer to this combination of ingredients as jambalaya.

  • Hi Emily, it is not really the combinations of ingredients that makes me say your recipe is more like a gumbo but the fact that the rice is cook separately. When we eat gumbo here, we add the “soup” over white rice. With jambalaya, the rice is cooked in the broth. As they explain in the wiki article I posted : “Jambalaya is differentiated from gumbo and étouffée by the way in which the rice is included. In these dishes, the rice is cooked separately and is served as a bed on which the main dish is served. In the usual method of preparing jambalaya, a rich stock is created from vegetables, meat, and seafood; raw rice is then added to the broth and the flavor is absorbed by the grains as the rice cooks.”
    I hope I do not seem like nitpicking!? Your recipe sounds delicious. Gumbo or jambalaya is always good food!! 🙂

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