Old-School Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

This was one of our test recipes at Leite’s over a year ago. It sounded really good, but somehow I just didn’t get around to making it. I could kick myself for that because we could have been eating it for a longer period of time.This jambalaya is a tad labor and time intensive. For us means that it is a Sunday recipe, which I especially love during football season. You chop, cook, stir, taste, adjust, cook, stir, taste, add a little of this and a bit of that, all while you are watching Jim Harbaugh animatedly encouraging Alex Smith to connect with Mario Manningham, or Eli Manning completing a pass to Victor Cruz. For those who are scratching their heads at this time, I’m talking about the San Francisco 49ers, and the New York football Giants. Not be confused with the San Francisco baseball Giants. And, by the way they are not playing each other in this scenario. Sports, another passion to add to the food, cooking, and wine list.  (I edit this to say, that the SF baseball Giants are now 2012 World Series Champions. Yahooo!!! )

For some reason I tackled this on a Tuesday. I may not do that again, but I will be making this recipe again. And again.  And again. There are so many layers of flavor here. The recipe takes its time to build each layer separately. After one bite of this jambalaya you’ll see why each of the steps is so important. You are showcasing each ingredient and building deep, intense flavors.

I did start with store-bought roasted chicken, which I tore into shreds while it was still warm. I find that the easiest way to shred a chicken. I really liked the method used for making the stock from the chicken carcass. I will never throw out the bones from a roasted chicken again. I had some leeks, which I chopped and added to the pot, and I used red bell peppers because I am not fond of green peppers. (Actually, they are not very fond of me.) I recommend checking on the rice half-way through the stated 40 minutes cooking time. After 20 minutes, our rice was cooked. I might even check on it earlier next time.

Many people, when looking at a recipe, go directly to the ingredient list and start there. I suggest reading the paragraphs introducing the recipe. I learned the difference between a Cajun and a Creole Jambalaya. This recipe is a Cajun version. You should read what that means on the site. It is interesting information.

This dish stood up well to a 2002 Navarro Syrah. A big, in your face, ripe, California Syrah. Yes, we do drink wines other than Navarro’s. I hope to talk about them soon.

Check out the recipe, Old-School Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya,
at Leite’s Culinaria.

http://leitesculinaria.com/77092/recipes-chicken-and-sausage-jambalaya.html