Jambalaya, New Orleans Style
Jambalaya, New Orleans Style
This is the perfect Pink Palace dish: it’s not fancy or extravagant, it’s not trying to impress anyone, it’s just really, really good. But what I love even more about jambalaya is that there’s no such thing as making it for two people. Gather your friends (and their friends), ask them to bring beer, and eat it at your table together, or while you’re all standing around your kitchen, or sitting out on the porch: there’s really no wrong way to share a jambalaya.
Ingrediënten
Serves 8
- ÂĽ cup sunflower oil
- 3 cups diced white onions about 2 large onions
- 1 cup diced celery about 2 ribs
- 2 cups diced green bell peppers about 2 large peppers
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder optional
- 1 teaspoon onion powder optional
- Salt
- 1 cup trimmed and thinly sliced green onions white and tender green parts only
- 2 cups about 1 pound sliced andouille sausage (½-inch rounds)
- 2 cups long-grain white rice
- 2½ cups Chicken Stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 pound extra jumbo 16/20 shrimp in shells, rinsed well with cold water
- 24 shucked oysters in their water
Instructies
- Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- In a large oven-safe pot on high heat, heat the sunflower oil until it’s just starting to smoke.
- Add the white onions, celery, and bell peppers (“the holy trinity”) and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables start to soften, about 2 minutes.
- Add the bay leaf, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and a healthy pinch of salt and continue to cook until the vegetables caramelize and turn brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
- You’ll see brown bits start to stick to the bottom of your pot—this is the fond (see this page), in other words, the best part.
- Add the green onions and continue to stir until they wilt, about 1 minute.
- Add the sausage and continue to cook until the fat renders and the sausage gets crispy, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the rice and a generous pinch of salt.
- Add the chicken stock and Worcestershire sauce and scrape up the brown bits that have formed.
- Turn down the heat to low.
- Stir in the cayenne and wait as the pot comes to a simmer.
- Add a pinch of salt, taste, and add more, if necessary.
- Turn up the heat to high, and when boiling, add the shrimp and the oysters and their water.
- The shellfish will be slightly overcooked, but it adds tremendous amounts of flavor to the rice—a compromise I can live with.
- Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and transfer it to your oven for 14 minutes.
- Remove the pot from your oven and resist the temptation to peek.
- Let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Serve immediately or store in your refrigerator, covered, for up to 12 hours.
- Simply let it come to room temperature before serving.
