Friday 10 October 2008

Jambalaya

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Where do the days go? It's the weekend again and I have no idea what happened to the rest of the week! My friend C. flew back to Germany on Tuesday, but before she did, we managed to do some cooking together. One of the dishes we cooked was Jambalaya.

Usually I'm not that keen on smokey flavours, I always prefer my bacon, salmon, ham etc. unsmoked, but for some reason I do enjoy the smokiness of a good Jambalaya and the two of us polished off the whole thing. Well, I did cut the recipe in half to serve two, but when we first looked at how much there was we thought we'd made way too much. We were definitely wrong though and somehow managed to find enough room for every last bit.

This is a recipe from Lesley Waters' Simple Ways to Success - Healthy cookbook. I sometimes find her a bit annoying when she's on telly, but I have to say every dish I have tried from this book so far has been a success and I guess that's what really counts. As I said, I cut the recipe in half, used white Basmati rice and left out the cloves, but I write the original amounts and ingredients here for you to try or tinker with. Oh, and sorry about the bad picture, I've gotta get used to taking pictures with artificial lighting again, as the days are getting darker quickly!

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Jambalaya (serves 4)

2 chicken breast fillets, cut into bite sized pieces
3 peppers (red, yellow and orange), roughly chopped
350gr Camargue red rice, cooked
80gr sliced chorizo
1tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, cut into wedges
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 tespoons smoked paprika
pinch of ground cloves
3 bay leaves
400gr can of chopped tomatoes
200ml vegetable stock
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
salt, to taste

In a large shallow frying pan, fry the chorizo slices for about half a minute on each side. Take them out using some tongs, leaving as much of the released fat in the pan.

Add the chicken pieces and fry until golden, approx. 10minutes. Take out off the pan and drain on some kitchen paper.

Add the oil to the pan and fry the peppers and onion for about 5minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, cloves and bayleaves and cook for another minute or so.

Add the cooked rice, chorizo, chicken, tomatoes and the stock and stir well. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for about 10 more mintes, stirring frequently. Most of the liquid should be absorbed.

Season with salt and freshly grounf black pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

14 comments:

Deborah said...

I have always wanted to make jambalaya. This one sounds great!

jane said...

I agree, she's quite annoying on telly! But that does sound like a really tasty recipe, one to try.

test it comm said...

That Jambalaya looks tasty. I have been wanting to try a Jambalaya for a while now.

Jaime said...

mmmm i love jambalaya and this looks delicious

Jan said...

Mmmm Yum! That looks lovely Sylvie. I love everything that goes into Jambalaya and yours looks great.

fleur said...

hahaha I have the same thing about Lesley Walters, I think its the earings! She does knoe her stuff tho. My mum used to make jambalaya loads when I was younger, but she used a sauce from a jar and we cant find it anymore so thanks we will have a go at this recipe

Peter M said...

This transports me to Lousiana and I haven't ever been there!

Very appetizing indeed.

Sam said...

I've never tried this before, I would love to though. This recipe has some of my favourite things in!

Beth (jamandcream) said...

I love Jambalya. I haven't seen that recipe book - is it an old one? Wil be trying this

Sylvie said...

Deborah, I've made Jambalaya before, but always used to use some kind of sauce mix from a packet (in the days before I really got into cooking) and this is much better.

Jane, I know this is gonna make me sound like a miserable person, but she always just seems to be a little too chirpy for me.

Kevin, I don't think you'd regret it. It's a really good dish.

Jaime, thanks.

Jan, I also love everything in it and the combination of flavours really works.

Flower, this was the first time I made it completely from scratch as well and I think it was so much better. For me it's her perma-smile that grates on my nerves, but now that you mention the earrings!

Peter, I'd love to have a proper jambalaya in Louisiana some time, but for now this will have to do.

Sam, give it a go, I'm sure you'd like it.

Beth, I checked, it's no longer available on amazon. I got it from Sainsbury a few years ago. It was a series called 'Ways to Success - ...', I also have another one by Mark Hix that's called 'Ways to Success - British', which is also quite good. If you ever see them at a car boot or in a charity shop they are well worth getting in my opinion.

Marie Rayner said...

As annoying as she may be to watch, she is a damn good cook Sylvie! That Jambalaya looks delicious, and is full of some great stuff that is wonderfully good for you!

Anonymous said...

Poor Lesley, she doesn't have many fans does she?!

I've tried to make jambalaya a couple of times but haven't been very impressed with the results, I'll give this one a go next time.

Katie said...

Mmm, I am a big fan of dishes like this, with vegetables and meat mixed up with spices, etc. Perfect for cool weather!

Rosie said...

You must have been reading my mind *giggle* I have always wanted to make my own jambalaya and was looking at a recipe today for this!! Gosh your jambalaya looks very tempting I need to get into my kitchen and make this :)

Rosie x