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The following recipe and photography was provided by recipe developer and food photographer, Ashley Durand of Plate & Pen.
If you’ve been looking for a hearty Cajun jambalaya recipe, look no further. I myself have been trying to perfect “the” most amazing jambalaya because growing up in Louisiana, I’ve had some extremely disappointing attempts and too many mediocre ones. They’re either too dry or have way too many tomatoes, which I do not want… ever.
The main difference between Cajun and Creole stews and jambalayas is the amount of tomatoes. This recipe takes care of that issue, and hey, if you want more tomatoes, you can add them!
The real game-changer in this recipe is the sausage. A standard sausage for jambalaya and gumbos is smoked andouille, but to get into the harvest spirit, I used Heinen’s apple gouda sausage, and let me tell you, I am a convert. It’s so good, we couldn’t get over it, but you can always use traditional smoked andouille if preferred. We inhaled this dish and cannot wait for you to do the same.
- Total time:
- 0min
Ingredients
- 8 strips bacon, chopped
- 2 cups yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups celery, diced
- 1 cup green bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 3 Tbsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. fresh chopped rosemary
- 12 oz. Heinen's apple gouda sausage, sliced
- 2 boneless chicken breasts and thighs, chopped into chunks
- 1 cup dark harvest lager-style beer
- 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
- 1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes with green chilis, drained
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 cup green onion tops, chopped
- 2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp. hot sauce, preferably Tabasco
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
- 3 1/4 cups long grain white rice
- 4 cups chicken stock
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large cast iron Dutch oven (I use at least a 9 qt.) over medium-high heat, fry the bacon. Remove from pot and leave the bacon grease and sautée the onions, celery and bell peppers for 5 minutes.
- After the 5 minutes, add the garlic, rosemary, Heinen’s apple gouda sausage and chicken until the meat begins to brown.
- Deglaze the pot by adding the beer and skim the pot with a flat wooden edge spoon. Add the bacon from the first step back in and toss in the canned and chopped tomatoes, parsley and green onions.
- Add the cayenne, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and red wine vinegar and stir.
- Pour in the rice and mix to distribute evenly.
- Add the chicken stock and stir again.
- Cover the pot and bake for 1 hour. DO NOT lift the lid to stir or look at it. Let it do it’s thing and cook.
- After an hour, turn off the oven and remove lid to check if the rice is cooked then put it back in oven, covered, to sit and steam a bit for 20 minutes.
- Serve with more parsley and green onions, if desired!
Interested in making this recipe? Order the ingredients online for Curbside Grocery Pickup or Delivery.
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