Jambalaya

This is a recipe that I have tweaked a little.  The original recipe was posted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch a while back, and it gave instructions on how to bake the jambalaya.  Yes, bake.  I've never heard of any Louisiana native baking jambalaya, so I decided to cook in a pot on the stove top - as it should be done.  We've both tried making homemade Jambalaya several times with different recipes, and this one is our favorite.

Yield: 15 servings (about 20 cups)

6 tablespoons olive oil
2 clove garlic, minced
2 small yellow onion, diced
8 ribs celery, sliced
2 red bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 green bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons Cajun-style seasoning (such as Tony Chachere’s)
2 1/2 cups uncooked extra long grain white rice
5 cups chicken stock
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoon butter
6 dashes Tabasco sauce or to taste
1 pound cooked dark meat chicken, diced
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
Salt, optional
Ground black pepper


1. Combine olive oil, garlic, yellow onion, celery, bell peppers and blackening seasoning in a large pot. Sauté over medium-high heat until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.

2. Stir in chicken stock, tomato sauce, Worcestershire and butter; bring to a boil. Stir in Tabasco, chicken and andouille. Return to boil. Stir in rice; reduce heat and cover and walk away.  Do not stir or remove the lid until you think the rice is almost done. Cook for 30 minutes or until rice is tender.

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed.

This makes enough to fed a large crowd.  If you want to cut the recipe in half, remember to reduce the cooking time after the rice is added.  I made a half-recipe of this on Saturday, and it took about 15 minutes -instead of 30 - for the rice to become tender.