One of my favourite cities in the world is NOLA, the beignet capital of the world. While you can get different flavours and spice mixes in just about every restaurant, jambalaya universally contains okra. We planted okra in our garden last summer, and very quickly, New Orleans jambalaya became a mealtime favourite. Andouille sausage adds oodles of flavour to the dish, but if you can’t find any, Italian sausage will do! I personally consider shrimp, prawns and crawfish incredibly creepy, but traditionally you add those as well.
In New Orleans, you could stay for two weeks and eat a different version of Jambalaya each day. Even gourmet chefs from the area like Emiril Lagasse ‘spice’ it up to make it unique. We are fully open to other recipes and suggestions of how to improve on ours! Let us know where the BEST jambalaya you’ve ever had was found.. or maybe this one will be your fav. We’re hoping!
Serving this with cornbread muffins makes for the perfect meal.
New Orleans Jambalaya
Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive oil, enough to coat a skillet
- 4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips
- 20 jumbo shrimp (but not in mine!!!), peeled and de-veined
- All-purpose flour, for dusting
- 5 andouille sausages, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 green peppers, julienned
- 2 red peppers, julienned
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 6 fresh okra pods, sliced
- 1 large Spanish onion
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 4 tablespoons parsley
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cayenne
- 10 peeled plum tomatoes, chopped
- 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 3 cups long or medium grained rice
- 4 cups seafood or chicken stock
- 2 cups tomato juice
- 10 fresh crawfish, optional
- 1 bunch scallions, chopped
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt, pepper and dredge in flour. Pour a couple of tablespoons of oil into a cast iron skillet brown the chicken pieces and sliced sausage over a medium heat.
- After 5 minutes, once nicely browned on all sides, garlic, peppers, celery, okra, and onion and cook on low heat for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add all seasoning, diced tomatoes and Worcestershire.
- Add uncooked rice and cook, stirring for 3 minutes.
- Add tomato juice and stock and simmer 5 minutes.
- If you don't think shrimp or crawfish are evil, now is the time you'd add them and cook an additional 2 minutes.
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