Classic Cajun Jambalaya
Classic Cajun Jambalaya

Hey everyone, I hope you are having an incredible day today. Today, we’re going to prepare a distinctive dish, classic cajun jambalaya. It is one of my favorites. For mine, I will make it a bit unique. This will be really delicious.

Classic Cajun Jambalaya is one of the most favored of current trending foods on earth. It’s simple, it’s quick, it tastes yummy. It’s enjoyed by millions every day. They are fine and they look fantastic. Classic Cajun Jambalaya is something that I have loved my entire life.

Cajun jambalaya is the love child of risotto and paella. The creaminess of the rice is similar to that of a well-made risotto, while the shrimp, andouille and chicken combination are reminiscent of paella. Jambalaya is a dish of Spanish and French origins by way of Louisiana. This classic Louisiana rice dish captures wonderful Creole and Cajun flavors and is often imitated, but rarely duplicated, outside of Louisiana.

To begin with this recipe, we have to prepare a few ingredients. You can cook classic cajun jambalaya using 15 ingredients and 11 steps. Here is how you can achieve that.

The ingredients needed to make Classic Cajun Jambalaya:
  1. Take 1/2 Cup Canola oil
  2. Make ready 2 1/2 lb yellow onions, finely diced
  3. Get 1/3 cup celery, finely diced
  4. Take 1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
  5. Prepare 3 bay leaves
  6. Prepare 2 lbs peeled/deveined medium shrimp
  7. Take 1 tbsp. kosher salt
  8. Get 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
  9. Take 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  10. Prepare 1 tbsp. hot sauce (Original Louisiana Hot Sauce)
  11. Get 4 cups medium grain white rice
  12. Make ready 5 cups unsalted chicken stock, shrimp stock, or water (substitute 1 can beer for same amount of liquid if desired)
  13. Get 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (as garnish)
  14. Get 1/4 cup green onions, finely chopped (as garnish)
  15. Make ready 1 cup white beans (as a side dish) prepared per package instructions

Set aside to marinate at room temperature while the vegetables cook. Add rice and stir to coat. Add remaining ingredients except the green onions, and increase heat to medium-high heat. If necessary, add water to prevent drying out.

Instructions to make Classic Cajun Jambalaya:
  1. Warm a heavy-bottomed 12-quart Dutch oven over medium heat for 3 minutes, then add the oil and heat for 1 minute.
  2. Add the onions to the pot and stir, stir, stir. This starts the very long process of browning the onions. Cook the onions for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, depending on how hot your stove runs, watching them very closely and stirring every 2 minutes. If the onions start to stick too much, add a little bit of water or stock to loosen them, then stir to incorporate the browner onions and scrape up any stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pot.
  3. Stir, stir, stir. If you’re worried about burning, lower the heat. You really don’t want to walk away from the pot at any point. This is your time with your onions. All the other steps will be easy. Stir, stir, stir until the onions are deeply caramelized and resemble dark chocolate in color.
  4. Add the celery, bell pepper, and bay leaves to the pot and stir. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, put the shrimp in a large bowl and season with the salt, black pepper, cayenne, and hot sauce. Set aside to marinate at room temperature while the vegetables cook.
  6. Add the rice to the pot (liquid comes later) with the vegetables and stir to combine. Raise the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, letting the flavors mingle and marry, for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and stir to incorporate them.
  7. Add the stock and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the liquid has almost completely evaporated or looks like little puddles of water, 8 to 10 minutes.
  8. When you’re at the point of puddling—this is a judgment call based on temperature, pot size, and your stove—put the lid on the pot and reduce the heat to its lowest setting. From here, the cooking time is going to be 45 minutes total, and YOU CAN'T REMOVE THE LID THE ENTIRE TIME. You'll want to peek, but don't.
  9. Set a timer for 20 minutes. When it goes off, turn off the heat and let the jambalaya sit, covered, for 25 minutes before you lift the lid.
  10. After 45 minutes, uncover the pot and stir the jambalaya. There may be a little burnt rice on the bottom—this is called the “grat” or “gratin.” It’s some folks’ favorite part of the jambalaya.
  11. Serve the Jambalaya garnished with the parsley and green onions. White beans go nicely alongside this dish.

Add remaining ingredients except the green onions, and increase heat to medium-high heat. If necessary, add water to prevent drying out. Description This Classic Cajun Jambalaya has all the wonderful flavors of the deep South. Slightly smokey and spicy, with chicken, shrimp, and spicy Andouille sausage. Southern comfort food at its best.

So that is going to wrap it up for this exceptional food classic cajun jambalaya recipe. Thank you very much for your time. I’m sure that you can make this at home. There’s gonna be interesting food in home recipes coming up. Remember to save this page in your browser, and share it to your family, friends and colleague. Thank you for reading. Go on get cooking!