I gar-on-tee!

So, I know Mardi Gras was a little while ago, but I wanted to share with y'all the Jambalaya recipe Husband and I came up with! It is a combination of several different recipes found on the interwebs

Crockpot Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Ingredients

1.5 pounds Andouille sausage

1.5 pounds chicken

2 14.5 oz Cans Diced Tomatoes (with juices)

1 Cup Onion, chopped
4 Cloves Garlic, chopped

1/2 Cup Celery, diced

1/2 Cup Bell Pepper, diced
1-2 Bay Leaf

3 Cups Chicken Broth

2 cups Uncooked Rice

2 Tablespoons Creole seasoning (3 parts Paprika, 2 parts Garlic powder, 2 parts onion powder, 2 parts salt, 1 part thyme,1 part basil, 1 part oregano, 1 part black pepper, 1 part white pepper)

1/2 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1/8 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (more or less per taste)

Instructions

Saute butter, bell peppers, onions, garlic, and celery in pan on stove.

Add sauteed vegetables, tomatoes, sausage, chicken, bay leaf, broth, and all seasoning to crock-pot.

Cook on low for 3 hours.

Turn crock-pot to high and add rice.

Cook for an additional hour or until rice is cooked.

Remove Jambalaya from crock-pot once rice is cooked. If you do not, the rice will get mushy.

So I was a bit absent minded when we made this….I put the rice in with everything else. I was convinced that the mushy rice would ruin it, but Husband convinced me not to worry. Then he realized that we didn't saute the vegetables in a pan prior to putting into the Crockpot. It was then my turn to assure him that it wouldn't ruin the meal. Not the best mid day cooking for us.

Due to these facts, the dish was not perfect. The onion was cut a bit too thick and, indeed, needed to be softened in a pan with the bell pepper. I don't think the celery is a must to be softened, but I cut that pretty small when prepping. The rice, actually, wasn't mushy. Maybe because we used Basmati Brown rice or something, (?) it was still a little under cooked. Next time this dish is made, which it will be, I will cook the rice about 40 minutes before serving on the stove top and then plop it in. 

The Andouille sausage and and cayenne pepper gave this a nice kick but a bit of Tabasco or Louisiana style hot sauce would have made this dish really good.

Until the next meal...

**Today's title comes from the PBS Creole chef and humorist Justin E. Wilson. 'nuff said.**