Monday, July 7, 2008

Tony D’s Jambalaya

I know what you’re saying. Hey Tony D, “What do you know about Cajun cooking?” Well, I once walked by the red pepper and salt in the spice aisle at the grocery store and I figure that counts me in. But really, back in the late 80’s I came across the Cajun Chef, Justin Wilson on TV and I was off and running.

After a few over salted disasters, I had a few winners and here is one of them. I have made this dish hundreds of times with no complaints. It works especially well at dish to pass events when it is re-warmed in a crock pot.

THE INGREDIENTS
4 cups of cooked white rice
1 package of frozen 30/40 cooked shrimp
1 pound smoked Andouille or kielbasa sausage
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small clove garlic, minced
½ green bell pepper, diced
½ red bell pepper, diced
1 (28-ounce) can diced, peeled tomatoes
½ can of tomato paste
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon gumbo filĂ© powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Dash of black pepper


THE JAMBALAYA
Slice sausage into bite-sized pieces and brown in large pre-heated skillet pan (a cast-iron Dutch oven is ideal) over medium-high heat. Remove sausage from pan with slotted spoon and reserve drippings for next step.

Defrost shrimp by running cold water over them in a colander. Save for later.

Put onion, celery, green, red bell pepper and garlic in pan and sautĂ© until vegetables are cooked through. Stir in tomato paste and fry until hot. Add black pepper, Tabasco, Worcestershire, file’ powder, cayenne pepper and tomatoes, rice, sausage and shrimp and stir to combine.

Heat until hot and then serve!

A word to the wise when spicing Cajun dishes, there is a big difference between Cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper. Most Cajun Seasonings are 99% salt and will ruin a dish. Stay away from them and use the red pepper. Just some advice from Tony D,

But before you make it, click the video below and listen to a little Hank Williams to get you in the mood!