Brown Rice Jambalaya

By davidgoodman

This is a happy accident of a variation on the classic. It includes "the holy trinity" of celery, onion and green pepper and the usual cast of characters. But we tried it with brown rice and found it to be even more "toothy" than the original.

Ingredients

• 1 pound pink shrimp (frozen is fine but thaw first)
• 1 pound andouille sausage
• 1 medium onion
• 1 green pepper
• 4 ribs of celery
• 1/2 cup frozen okra (thawed)
• 1 can Rotel (spicy as you like)
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tb Tony Cachere Seasoning
• 8 ounces of chicken stock
• 2 cups of brown rice (cooked)

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from gumbopages.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Slice and brown the sausage in a non-reactive pot (not cast iron .. it will turn the tomatoes black).

2. Pour off some of the fat, but leave enough to sauté the Rotel tomatoes. Add the Rotel and keep the heat up. This will brown or pincé the sauce. It adds color and depth. The tomatoes should carmelize and reach a mahogany color.

3. Add the onions, garlic, peppers and celery and sauté until they turn transparent.

4. Add the chicken stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to mix up any browned bits, and stir until smooth. It should be fairly thick. Add the okra and bay leaf.

5. Add the Creole seasoning and salt to taste. Caution: Tony Cachere is salty on its own! Cook over low-medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp (pre-cooked frozen is best .. and it is thawed) and sausage and cook another 10 minutes; be careful not to overcook the shrimp. Just heat them through.

6. Check the seasonings one last time, add more if needed, then stir in the rice, combining thoroughly. Cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is cooked through. If you haven't checked your seasonings before adding the rice, it's too late!

7. Turn the heat down to low-medium and let the sauce thicken up a bit, with the pot uncovered, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Stir thoroughly to combine all ingredients. When the jambalaya has thickened up a bit and has reached the "right" consistency (you'll know), it's done.