Jambalaya

This weekend just felt like it needed some Cajun food.  So, I cooked up some Jambalaya for the 'Bama game.  The beauty of Jambalaya is that you can modify it to suit your tastes, like I did to another recipe for this.

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. butter
6 oz. tasso or cure 81 ham, diced
6 oz andouille sausage, or good pure smoked pork sausage, diced
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1 1/2 c. chopped onions                                            Seasoning mix:
1 1/2 c. chopped celery                                             4 whole  bay leaves
1 c. chopped green bell peppers                                1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic                                             1 tsp. white pepper
2 c. uncooked rice                                                     1 tsp. dry mustard
4 c. chicken stock                                                      1 tsp. cayenne Pepper
2 c. stewed tomatoes. strained                                   1 tsp. gumbo file
                                                                                   1/2 tsp. ground cumin

                             1/2 tsp. black pepper
                             1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1.  Mix ingredients for seasoning mix in small bowl and set aside.

2.  In a large pot, melt the butter over high heat.  Add tasso and andouille; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add onions, celery, bell peppers, seasoning mix, and garlic.  Stir well and continue cooking until browned - about 10 to 12 minutes; stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pan well.  Stir in stewed tomatoes.

3.  Stir in the rice and cook for 5 minutes, stirring and scraping the pan bottom occasionally.  Add the stock, stirring well.
                                                               

4.  Bring the mixture to a boil; add shrimp; reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender, but still a bit crunchy - about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally toward the end of the cooking time. 

5.  Remove bay leaves and spoon onto heated plates.  Mmm-mm, good!

Notes:

*  The only difference from this and the original recipe is the stewed tomatoes and shrimp.  Really, with jambalaya, you can use whatever you choose as long as it has a lot of rice.

*  The ham comes in 8 oz. packages, so I use the full package.  I just the entire package of andouille sausage as well.

*  This makes a lot of food.  Be prepared for leftovers, lots of leftovers.

Sandy's rating:  4.5 stars
This dish is sinful.  Not to spicy, but far from bland.  The shrimp and the smoky flavors of the sausage and ham go together really well.  And, the rice soaks up all of the flavors cooked in the pot, making for a very nice dish.

Tony's rating:  4.0
It was really good this time because it wasn't as peppery as normal.  It was creamy, had a little heat.  Had a creole flavor.  Good stuff!

Cost:
rice - 1.09 / bag
shrimp - 9.99 /  lb
andouille - $4.99
8 oz. diced ham - $3.99
onion -  .69
green bell pepper - .99

We had all of the spices in our cabinets already, as well as stewed tomatoes, chicken bouillon to sub for broth, and garlic.

Total:  $22.00