Amelia's Rural Jambalaya

Jambalaya comes from the French Provençal word 'jambalaia', meaning a mish mash of rice and whatever other ingredients that you can manage to find. It’s a dish that has been around since the early 1800s when the Spanish first attempted to make paella in the New World. However, it was the French Creole who introduced it to the Cajuns. 

There are 2 types of jambalaya: City and Rural Jambalaya. Both start with the same trinity of vegetables: onions, bell peppers and celery. City Jambalaya originated from the French Quarter and included tomatoes from the ports. Rural Jambalaya didn’t include fresh tomatoes and the protein  was often whatever someone could manage to add. Some proteins included crawfish, shrimp, oysters, alligator, duck, turtle, boar, venison, or any other available game. Sounds to me that the Rural Jambalaya was the more exciting recipe!

---

My friend Amelia definitely fits the latter model of jambalaya: she and her family have their own little farm out in Marion, Montana with their own chickens, goats and other animals and here is her take on Rural Jambalaya. 

Amelia's Rural Jambalaya

Ingredients

Photo Credit: Amelia Gray

• 4 cups cooked chicken or 1 whole deboned cooked rotisserie chicken, largely chopped
• 1 whole kielbasa sausage, thinly sliced
• 1 lb cooked shrimp (small or medium sized, peeled and de-tailed)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 cup uncooked rice (long or short grain)
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 2 small onions, diced
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (1 whole bulb or about 9 cloves)
• 1/2 cup all-flour
• 8 cups of chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoon jambalaya spice mix
• Olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of your pan
• 4-6 tablespoons of butter
• 3-4 tablespoons bacon grease (optional)

Jambalaya Spice Mix

Ingredients

Photo Credit: Amelia Gray

• 1 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon powdered mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• Mix all in a small sealable jar because this will make around 6 batches of jambalaya. 

Instructions

• Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat (do not grease it). 
• Add flour and cook, stir constantly, (be careful not to let the flour burn, reduce the heat if it cooking to fast) until flour turns a golden brown. It will smell similar to burnt toast. Set it aside to use later.
• In a large stock pot heat your oil, butter, and bacon grease over medium-low heat. 
• Add onions, bell peppers, celery, and garlic; sauté until onions are soft and translucent. 
• Pull off heat and stir in cooked flour. 
• Place back onto heat then add broth, spice mix, and tomatoes.
• Bring to a low boil, then add rice and reduce heat to low. 
• Cover and stir often (be careful, it can stick and burn easily at this stage) till rice is soft.
  If you are using long grain rice, the rice will split at both ends forming an "x" when done. If you are using short grain you will have to taste it to see if it is soft. 
• Once your rice is cooked stir in the chicken, sausage, and shrimp. (Remember you can substitute any meat you like such as alligator, turtle, crawfish, turkey, etc. I just use these three because they are readily available here in Montana.) Ladle into bowls and serve with cheddar biscuits and Tabasco if you like it hotter.

Check out other great recipes from The Tiny Twenty-Something