Jambalaya / Measuring is for losers

I needed to make a dish for a potluck that would rock people's socks off. This jambalaya totally did the trick. There wasn't a sock to be found by the end of the party.

This recipe is courtesy of Rachel Ray, who is one of my least favorite food network hosts. The girl can cook though.

I made a couple of changes to this recipe to make it a little more how I'd cook. First off, I don't like to measure ingredients while I'm cooking. My measuring cups are by far the least used things in my kitchen. Measuring always makes me feel like I'm doing science, and that's not why I cook. I like to just feel it out, use the force. As such, the recipe is really more of a guideline for me. So, included with this recipe is how I went about measuring the ingredients in the dish. In general, my rule for spices is to put what looks like how much the recipe calls for, then put a little more.

The other change that I made was that I put some of my secret ingredients in there: Ketchup and Tabasco sauce. I have yet to find a recipe that this won't improve.

2 cups enriched white rice (a little more that half a pound, and about a 10 count of water)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, once around the pan (once around the pan)
1 tablespoon butter (more than I'd put on bread)
1 pound boneless, skinless white or dark meat chicken
3/4 pound andouille, casing removed and diced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
Several drops hot sauce or 2 pinches cayenne pepper (or? both!)
2 to 3 tablespoons (a handful) all-purpose flour (a few shakes of the packet)
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
1(14-ounce) can or paper container chicken stock or broth (half a box)
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) cumin (a shake or two)
1 rounded teaspoon (1/2 palmful) dark chili powder
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) poultry seasoning (i used a bouillon cube)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (i probably used way more than that)
1 pound medium shrimp, raw, deveined and peeled (ask for easy peel at fish counter)
Coarse salt and black pepper
Chopped scallions, for garnish
Fresh thyme, chopped for garnish.
(four squirts of Ketchup)



Cook rice to package directions.

Place a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and butter to the pan. Cube chicken and place in hot oil and butter. Brown chicken 3 minutes, add sausage, and cook 2 minutes more. Add onion, celery, pepper, bay, and cayenne.

Saute vegetables 5 minutes, sprinkle flour over the pan and cook 1 or 2 minutes more. Stir in tomatoes and broth and season with cumin, chili, poultry seasoning, and Worcestershire. Bring liquids to a boil and add shrimp.

Simmer shrimp 5 minutes until pink and firm. Remove the pot from the heat and place on a trivet. Ladle jambalaya into shallow bowls. Using an ice cream scoop, place a scoop of rice on to the center of the bowlfuls of jambalaya. (I just added it to the Jambalaya and mixed it up) Sprinkle dishes with salt, pepper, chopped scallions, and thyme leaves.