Easy Suppers:Sausage Jambalaya…Oh Yeah!

One of the saddest thing about our new “global” community is that rather than people being introduced to new foods regional foods are disappearing.  People eat at Don Pablos and think it is real Mexican food, or have pasta at Olive Garden and believe they have experienced Italy.

Of course nothing could be further from the truth.  I try to search out regional foods and make them as authentically as I can for my family.  We don’t eat out much (figure the cost of 8 people at Olive Garden…or Burger King for that matter) so we try to have special meals”in” once in awhile.

Jambalaya is a big favorite here.  Nothing beats it for a quick and easy supper.  It is slightly spicy, with lots of great vegetables and seasonings.  The sausage I use is a beef no-nitrate sausage, but any smoked sausage will do.  If you can get a good cajun sausage (andouille) do so! There is nothing like authentic flavor.

Jambalaya is really nothing but a brothy stew that is served with rice.  Vary the meat by what you have on hand or even make it with a few different kinds.  Serve it with a crisp salad, a good baguette,  and some calas and play some jazz in the background.  Most recipes call for the rice to be cooked in the Jambalaya but my family prefers it served over the plain, cooked rice.

The dish, Jambalaya, is really a mystery.  Noone really knows where it began or how it came to be known as Jambalaya.  If you want a very lengthy and interesting explanation you might want to read Jambalaya, which is probably one of the best documented opinions I have read.  Suffice it to say that by the end of the 1800s it was certainly a major part of Cajun home cookin’ and we can all be grateful for that.

Sausage Jambalaya

•   1/2 cup butter
•   2  onions, chopped
•   4  stalks celery, chopped
•   1  green bell pepper, chopped
•   1 red bell pepper, chopped
•   1 yellow bell pepper chopped
•   5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
•   2 bay leaves
•   1 tablespoon creole seasoning
•   1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
•   1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
•   1 1/2 lbs smoked sausage, sliced
•   1 box of Pacific Free range organic chicken broth
•   2 cans diced ro*tel tomatoes with juice (or 1 can regular diced tomatoes and one can rotel for less spicy)
•   6 cups rice cooked

Directions

Melt butter in a large pot (or huge commercial saute pan if you have one).  Keep the heat on medium high but do not let the butter burn.

Add the onions, celery, bell peppers, garlic,  bay leaves, Creole Seasoning, cayenne pepper and thyme.

Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Add sausage, broth, and tomatoes (if you want to cook the rice with it add it at this point as well).

Bring mixture to simmer. Simmer about 30 minutes.

Serves 8

Or if you are cooking the rice with it:

Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes to 45 minutes.

Image: Marye Audet