Creole Style Jambalaya

First time cooking in a new kitchen is always an experience, but my first time today went well. I’ve been so busy with all the work we haven’t eaten anything proper in a few days, so today after my day shift I finally could take time and relax in the kitchen. Indeed, cooking is often relaxing for me, especially when I can try something new. I find cooking foods I know by heart more boring, therefore I’m always eager to try new things, ingredients, cuisines and simply, recipes. Talking about recipes, I got the best possible reward a blogger can have, when a fellow blogger, Miss Minifer wrote how she tried out my Brazilian style rösti, and it came out delicious. Thank you for the feedback, it feels simply great to hear something from people who create so delicious stuff themselves.

So today I cooked the first dinner for me and S in our summer apartment’s kitchen (yes, if I forgot to mention, we’re only going to spend a summer in this place, and then start looking for a new apartment). The owner of the flat has left some things in the apartment, so I was only not cooking in a new kitchen, but also with new tools. Everything went out well however, and the Creole Jambalaya I prepared came out nice and hot. The reaction of S was “where’s this food from?”. I read from Wikipedia that the jambalaya has actually two origins, Cajun and Creole. The biggest difference between these is that the Cajun version doesn’t use tomatoes. Otherwise the preparation methods are quite similar, as well as the usage of meat and seafood. As it sounds, jambalaya is some sort of a cousin for Spanish paella (which I never have done, but should try one day).

I didn’t use any particular recipe to prepare my jambalaya, but used one from Ellie Krieger and one from Examiner as references for the ingredients needed. 

Jambalaya in Creole Style

300g sausage of your choice, like andouille or chorizo (I used turkey sausages, but they are not the best choice)

200g shrimps, deveined & peeled

+ 2-3 tablespoons Creole spice mix (recipe below)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 big onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

2 bay leaves

2dl crushed tomatoes (I used canned whole tomatoes that I chopped + their juice)

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Tabasco with garlic)

550ml chicken stock

2,5dl basmati rice (you can also use some other long-grain rice if you like)

salt and black pepper to taste

flat-leaf parsley to garnish

Creole spice mix:

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Mix the spices together. Slice the sausages and place them in a bowl with shrimps and Creole spice mix. Work to season throughly and set aside.

In a large wok, skillet or a dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat with onion and peppers. Sautée for 3 minutes. 

Add garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves and hot sauce. Stir in rice and chicken broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook until rice absorbs liquid and becomes tender, stirring occasionally, about 15-20 minutes.

When rice is cooked, add shrimp and sausage mixture. Cook until everything is cooked, a few minutes more. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Creole spice mix. 

Garnish with flat-leaf parsley.