Jambalaya

This will be my first step by step (ish) how to on the stuff I post on IG and FB.  I usually just post pics like, "Here it is.  It's what I'm eating.  Be in awe."

But then somebody asked me to start posting step by step instructions.
I always assumed there are plenty of sites out there, but ok...here goes.

Jambalaya-This is my interpretation of it.  It's kind of a mess of what's on hand.  It is literally a jumble of whatever I feel like throwing in.  There's a lot of freedom in this dish in that its pretty hard to mess up but its a whole lots of yummy to eat...

Smoked sausage (kielbasa)
Spicy andouille sausage (see the nice marble on the andouille?  Don't be afraid.  Embrace it.)
Use as much or little as you want....I'll say that a lot.  Sorry.

I always use celery, onion and bell pepper.....except I didn't have bell pepper and I really wanted to make this RIGHT NOW (bc that's how I roll).  So instead, I used a handful of jalapenos.  Yes, you read that right.  I just de-seeded them and made sure to cut out any of the capsaicin (the white membrane part that houses the seeds) because that's where most of the hot hot hot is from.  I also happened to have some mushrooms so I chopped up and threw them in there.  I threw in a lot of chopped garlic.  A lot.  I estimate that's about 2 whole cloves worth of garlic...because its garlic and its sooooooo good.  (I get mine at the Korean market.  It is literally just chopped garlic.  I keep in an airtight container and I only use a clean spoon every time I use it.  It will discolor but it won't go bad.  You can use the crushed garlic you find at places like Ralph's, but that stuff is full of preservatives and weird things I can't pronounce and it comes out slimy which grosses me out.  Apparently that's the stuff that keeps it from going bad....except my mom told me when veggies are slimy, THROW them out! Sorry.  Sidetrack.)

If you're adding beef or chicken, now is the time to chop and add in...

Here's the arsenal of seasonings and stuff that I throw in.  Again, as much or little as you want.  I put the olive oil in the back because sometimes (depending on how much sausage I put in, I don't even need the oil).  And yes, Tabasco.  Not for heat, but I like the vinegary acid it adds to my jambalaya.  You don't have to use it.  And behind the herbs, is chili oil that I made.  I might post a how to on that but its pretty easy to make.  Just use gloves and don't burn it because that's like death smoke that will sear your sinuses...for reals. Sometimes,  in addition to the chili oil or if I don't have any chili oil, I'll throw in a good amount of sambal oelek chili paste because I think it's the best stuff on earth and I love spicy.
I'm a big believer in adding the seasoning while you saute the veggies rather than seasoning AFTER. Personally, I use a lot of pepper too. So use as much or little of any of the seasoning you see her or feel free to improvise!

So, on medium (or high if you're impatient like me), I saute up the veggies and sausage until it looks like this:

                                 HAHAHAHA!  Pardon my steam....until it looks like this:

Then I add these guys (I have used fresh tomatoes and it works just as well, but it takes longer to stew and I'm ready to eat NOW so canned it is):

I add the tomato paste first.  Tomato paste is genius.  It is like hours and hours of stewing in a little can and without all the work. It is basically concentrated tomato and flavor.  Use it a lot.  Its a great shortcut to dishes and adds a lot of rich flavor.  I like to add it first and let it "brown" which means it will start to stick to the bottom a bit, but don't worry, it will all come up and add to the flavor when you add the stock or stewed tomato.  Unless you burn it.  Then you're SOL.  Just kidding slightly burnt is okay too.  If its all happening to fast for you, then just pull it off the burner and add liquid stat.

See?  It's kind of sticking to the bottom?  That's all flavor.  Trust me.
I add the sliced stewed tomatoes.  You can use chopped or you can chop up the sliced stewed.  I just pour the can in and catch the larger pieces of tomato and squish them with my hands (hence no pic since Jon's sleeping and I'm on my own with cellphone camera).  Or you can just leave the giant chunks of tomato as is because getting a nice chunk of tomato can be pleasant too....


So now you add stock.  I happened to have made a gorgeous prime rib roast a few nights ago and saved the roasted ribs so I made a nice beef stock from boiling the bones in water (for 2 hours on medium, but the longer the better.  I let it cool, skimmed off the fat and viola homemade beef broth!).  Sometimes, I will boil down shrimp head (ew! shrimp heads!!! and make the most wonderful decadent shrimp stock and use it for jambalaya) and it adds a really rich flavor, but I happened to have prime rib roast bones and that's what I used. Canned stock is perfectly A-OK too.  Beef, Chicken, Veggie...

How much to add?  Well, I guess it would be close to the size of the large tomato can.  I guess I should have mentioned I never measure, I have no concept of size or distance, and I am one of those Asians that sucks at math....Basically, if there are numbers involved, I'm out of the game...I had the HARDEST time learning how to tell time on clock when I was a kid.  THANK GOD for digital clocks and cell phones...

Okay.  So you have some decisions to make here.  You can stew it and serve it over rice.  Or you can throw in uncooked rice now (maybe a little more broth will need to be added depending on how much rice you like in there).  Try to keep the 1 cup of rice to 1.5 liquid ratio in mind...well I THINK that's right.  Please don't use short grain rice.  It gets gooey.  I like long grain rice like basmati or jasmine because they keep their shape and integrity and don't get gooey.  Gooey rice is nice for some things but not jambalaya.  I even use quinoa in place of rice.  But I think for today we'll go with over rice because rice is so nice.  

Let it all stew on low for about 45 minutes covered or for as long as you can stand it.  You'll notice the tomato mellows out a bit.  The red color gets deeper.  If you opted to add uncooked rice, you'll want to keep checking to make sure the rice isn't burning on the bottom and give it a stir every few minutes.  If you opted to put it OVER rice, now would be a good time to cook your rice (or pasta.  I should mention you can put it over pasta...I like linguine.  There's something so satisfying about the long, flat noodle).

Then, just before I'm ready to eat, I throw in frozen RAW shrimp.  Just stir it in, turn off the heat, and in about 10 minutes, it's ladled over rice and in my belly.  This will feed a lot of people...like 6 or 7 regular people (I'm guessing bc you're making me do math again..ugggghh!) or just 2 of my brother out laws....