carsonpeakey's recipe box

Jambalaya

Ingredients

These portions yield ~6C Jambalaya. See “Sizing” for guidance on scaling these portions.

Core

  1. 1 C diced onion (1/2 medium onion)
  2. 1 C diced bell pepper (1 med-small pepper)
  3. 1 C diced celery (~3 stalks)
  4. 1 C rice

Seasonings

  1. 1T garlic (2-3 toes)
  2. 1t dried thyme
  3. 1/4t cayenne (or to taste)
  4. 1/4t smoked paprika

Boil

  1. 1C cleaned, drained, and chopped tomatoes
  2. 2C stock

Meat

  1. 1# cleaned shrimp

Prep

These steps should be done before even turning on the stove so that your full attention can go into tending the saute and then the rice.

While shrimp should be used within a few hours of thawing, the vegetables can be chopped as early as the day before.

Vegetables

  1. Chop the following into the pot or into a storage container for later use:

    1. Bell Pepper (dice)
    2. Onion (dice)
    3. Celery (mince)

  2. Garlic: Mince the garlic into a separate bowl or container so it can be added after the bulkier vegetables have sauteed down a bit.

  3. Tomato: chop, drain, and reserve in its own container

Shrimp

  1. Clean (peel and de-vein) the shrimp

  2. Chop the shrimp into bite-sized chunks

    For 16/20 shrimp, for example, that yields 3-4 pieces per shrimp

  3. Keep refrigerated until it’s time to add them to the pot

Stock

  1. In a saucepan, heat the stock to a simmer

    If you peeled your own shrimp, you can simmer the shells in water to make shrimp stock.

Saute

  1. Heat pan over med-high

    1. when hot, add EVOO

  2. Add bell pepper, onion, celery and S&P

    1. Saute “until onions soften and everything starts to brown”

  3. Add the seasonings and rice

    1. Saute for a minute or so

  4. Add tomato

    Cook until it starts to break up (about 5min)

Make it Jambalaya!

  1. Add stock

    Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium

  2. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally (20-30 min)

    Rice should be just tender, liquid almost gone

  3. Stir in shrimp

    Cook for 2-3 min

  4. Cover and let rest for 10 min

Sizing

Size Quantity Vessel
Taste 1 cup 8 oz bowl
Small 1.5 cups 12 oz bowl
Medium 2 cups entrée size
Large 3 cups full plate

(source: “Jambalaya Calculator”)

References