Ridiculously Delayed but alas - Jambalaya

Okay so the past month has been a whirlwind and I completely neglected this blog ... sorry! Thankfully things have slowed down and I can finally share my recipe. 


For those of you who don't know, Kelly's family is from New Orleans. Actually the vast majority of his family still live there today. Needless to say, I have eaten some of the most amazing creole and cajun dishes with these people. I'm talking ridiculously, sinfully delicious food. The first time I met Kelly's parents they had me over for a Low Country Boil Dinner - needless to say I decided I would marry him that night. 


Last year Kelly's older brother Keith threw us a Wedding Shower in NOLA and cooked us up a crawfish boil. 

I'm talking live crawfish straight out of the bayou cooked up in big ole' pot with all the fixins dumped onto a table for everyone to just dig in.

Awesome, right? This was a seafood lover's heaven! But I understand that seafood isn't for everyone (like my Momma) so here's a recipe for Jambalaya seafood-free instead. 


Seriously though, if you've never had legitimate New Orleans cuisine please do yourself a favor and try this dish as soon as possible!


The basis of this recipe came from The Neely's off of The Food Network and can be found here. Below is my personal tweak on it because I have a personal obsession with not following directions and throwing my own spin on dish. BYOC! (Be Your Own Chef)



Sausage & Chicken Jambalaya

olive oil

• Package of boneless skinless chicken thighs (1-2 lbs)
• 1 lb smoked sausage, sliced, preferably andouille -- but I used Venison because that what I had in the fridge
• 1 onion, chopped, preferably a Vidalia or Sweet 
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 5-6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
• 2 cups white rice
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Get out your Dutch Oven - if you don't have buy one as soon as possible. I got one for Christmas and it is so stinkin awesome! A good heavy pot with a lid will work though :)

1. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in the pan over med-high heat. Salt & pepper the chicken thighs liberally and brown off in the oil (about 3-5 minutes per side). Just make sure you have a good crust on all sides of the chicken and some chicken bits on the bottom of the pan. Remove chicken to a plate after to rest.

2. Add the sausage let it begin to brown for 3-4 minutes then add the onions, bell pepper, and celery. Cook until translucent. Add the thyme and garlic - cook for an additional 2 minutes. 

3. Stir in the rice, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, broth/stock, and bay leaf. Drop in the reserved chicken. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring often. 

4. Reduce to simmer, cover with lid, and let cook for around 25 minutes. Make sure that you have a decent simmer going or the rice will not be fully cooked.

5. At the end of the 25 minutes, turn off heat (DO NOT REMOVE THE LID) and let sit for 10 minutes.

6. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the parsley. Bon appetite! 

I served with some Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce because it definitely needed a little more spice. You can add 1/2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes to the mixture when you add the rice if you want to give it a kick :)