Jambalaya

August 14th It's been awhile, I hope all of you are still out there. Work, etc, blah, work, kind of keeps me unmotivated when I get home. I could turn on the computer and get to it, or kick up my feet and not think. Sometimes, not thinking wins the battle. Anyway, I decided to whip up a Jambalaya, and when I say whip up, I mean stare at a dutch oven for about two hours. Jambalaya does not take two hours to cook, but after I read the recipe (numerous times), I decided to take my time and make sure everything was just right. I cut andouille sausage to precise measurements, made sure the shrimp was peeled and de-veined properly, and trimmed the chicken thighs of any excess fat. My prep for this recipe took just as long as it did to cook, but I think that extra attention really came out in the final product. This recipe came from my America's Test Kitchen Cookbook, which I have used for just about everything. If I have no idea what I want to do with celery, I will look in this book to get some ideas. All cooks should have some sort of culinary bible to sort through in case of cookers block. So, here goes. If you have any questions, let me know. First, and most importantly, make sure you have a good-sized dutch oven to put all of these ingredients in. A heavy bottom pan distributes the heat evenly, while a pan too small will cause a Jambamess, and a pan with no Teflon on the bottom will make you stir until your arm falls asleep to keep things from sticking. Take this pan and heat up 2 tsp of vegetable oil over medium high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, put 4 bone-in, skin-on, chicken thighs skin side down on the hot oil. Cook those for about 5 minutes, then turn and cook 3 minutes more. When you flip the chicken the skin should be golden brown. When done, take out of the pan and put on a plate to rest (it's been a tough 8 minutes). Lower the heat to medium and toss in about 8 ounces of andouille sausage cut into .25 inch pieces. Eight ounces is not etched in stone, so you can put a little more or less depending upon your taste. Cook that for about 3 minutes until brown, and take out these tasty morsels with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel lined plate. Once the meat portion is finished with its preliminary char, it's time for the veggies to do their part. Put the heat on low and add one medium onion (minced), one red bell pepper (de-seeded and minced), one medium stalk of celery (minced), and 5 garlic cloves (chopped into geometric triangles - just kidding, minced). Use a wooden spoon and scrape all of the fat bits off the bottom while cooking the veggies. There is plenty of oil now on the bottom of your pan, so don't add more. Do all of this for around 4 minutes or until the mixture gets soft. Now let's add some weird stuff. Once veggies have softened to your liking, add 1.5 cups of long grain wild rice, 1 tsp of salt (kosher), .25 tsp of dried thyme leaves, and .25 tsp of cayenne pepper and stir. This coats the rice with all the fat and gets it ready for the liquids. After about a minute, add one 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with only .25 cup of the juice, 1 cup of bottled clam juice (I really don't know how else you would get clam juice, I couldn't really see anyone squeezing individual clams for this), 1.5 cups of chicken broth, 2 bay leaves and the reserved browned sausage to the pot. Stir and combine. Now place the chicken sans skin, but skin side down on top. Bring this science experiment to a boil, lower the heat to low and cover for 15 minutes. Stir just once, making sure the chicken stays on top, then cover and cook for 10 more minutes. It's at this time you want to check the chicken and see how much more you want it too cook (red = sick, white = good to go). After the last 10 minutes the chicken should be done, take it out and put it on a platter for shredding. Also, make sure you're broth is not getting too thick and sticking, it should have a little more liquid left for the shrimp. Speaking of shrimp, put in 1 pound of peeled, deveined, tail-less shrimp into the pot, cover and cook for five more minutes. Stir every once in awhile to make sure things are not sticking, if you have the right pan this should not be a problem. While that is simmering away, shred the chicken thighs away from the bone and add to the pot after the 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and add some chopped parsley and you are done . . . finally. I'm tired just writing this recipe, but there is a certain satisfaction of eating food you toiled over for hours. If you like to cook, that is. I'd like to take this time to introduce the Nandy rating for this recipe - she says its a 4 out of 5 stars, and must be done again. She was disappointed in my frivolous distribution of said recipe to friends. I plan on posting a bit more this weekend. I have made a White Bean Chili with Tomatillo Sauce and Lamb Chops with Squash and Snap Pea Orzo. Assorted stories to follow.