|
There are many, many ways to make a great jambalaya. A search on RecipeSource (the new home of SOAR: The Searchable Online Archive of Recipes) returned an astounding number of recipes for the spicy, filling, rice-based stew that's a Louisiana classic. The range of ingredients is impressive: there are rabbit, alligator, crawfish, and vegetarian
versions, as well as the more predictable shrimp, chicken, sausage, pork, and black-eyed pea jambalayas. On Chuck Taggart's vast and tasty Gumbo Pages, we learned the difference between New Orleans Creole-style "red" jambalaya (made with tomatoes or tomato sauce, with or without stock) and the chicken or beef stock Cajun-style "brown" jambalaya. We savored several jambalaya recipes, including an award-winning, brown chicken jambalaya, Emeril's Mardi Gras jambalaya, with duck and andouille sausage, and Chuck's own unorthodox red variation
that substitutes pasta for rice. Scrolling beyond the ingredients and cooking instructions, we also found helpful hints for first-time jambalaya cooks and a bit of historical background. Jambalaya is compared to classic Spanish paella, and, according to some accounts, its name comes from jamón, Spanish for ham. Instead of the traditional flat paella pan, jambalaya is traditionally cooked in jumbo batches in a cast-iron pot, often outdoors over a hardwood fire. You can also use a crock pot. In addition to the rice and meat (or seafood or poultry), other key ingredients are shortening, onions, peppers, celery garlic, salt, and seasoning (think red peppers, Cajun spice, and hot sauce). We found
more mouth-watering jambalaya recipes on About.com's guide to Southern cuisine. You can order savory Cajun seasonings for your jambalaya via Yahoo! Shopping. Warning: Once you start cooking, that old Hank Williams tune might get stuck in your head -- "Jambalaya, crawfish pie, file gumbo..."
|
