Jambalaya

With the really odd weather we are having today (I woke up to sunshine, followed by hail, sleet, snow, back to sleet, then some hail, sunshine, snow and now it's snow/sleeting again) I felt that something warm, spicy and hearty would be a good choice.  I had never made Jambalaya before but my good friend's in New Orleans, Danna Jo and her husband Mike had fed me the most delicious pot of jambalaya two summers ago and I've loved it ever since.  Theirs was made in a huge black bot over a burner outside in the New Orleans air and tasted like heaven.  I wasn't sure that jambalaya would taste the same North of the Mason - Dixon line, especially without the New Orleans air to season it.  However, I wanted to give it a try, so I decided that today was the day.  I looked up a Paula Dean recipe for jambalaya with shrimp and sausage in it because let's face it, her stuff tastes amazing, but I knew I wanted to add chicken to it and make some other changes.  So I'll include the original recipe underneath, but I'm urging you to give my recipe a try because let me tell you, it's AMAZING and while you're making it a little bit of New Orleans will come visit you. 

2 Tbsp of butter
4 chicken thighs
4 links of smoked sausage, cut in 1/2 in cubes (I used the new Hillshire Farms Bacon and Monterrey Jack links)
1/2 can of beer
1 onion (I sliced it in half and kept it in halves so I could fish it out when I was done with it)
1 pint of tomato sauce (I used homemade but I'm sure store bought will work too)
1 lb of shrimp cut in half
1 cup long grain rice
3 Tbsp of onion powder
1 Tbsp of parsley flakes
2 packets of sodium free chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp of black pepper
1/4 tsp of salt
2 bay leaves (I used dried)
1 tsp of Tony Cachere's Spice N' Herbs Seasoning (optional for some added kick, if you add this, don't add the rest of the following ingredients
1/4 to 1/2 of cayenne depending on how spicy you want it (remember the rice will soak up a bit of the spice)

In a deep soup pan, melt the butter.  Add the chicken thighs and let them brown on each side and until almost cooked through, about 6 or 7 minutes on each side.  Remove them from the pan and put them in a bowl.  Add the sausage links to the butter and chicken renderings, let cook until browned on each side, remove the sausage from the pan and add the onion.  Cook the onion until you smell the onion flavor, (If you like onion in your food, you could chop it up into pieces and add it to the jambalaya, I don't like onion, so I kept it in half and removed it).  Once you smell the onion, add half a can of beer, deglazing the pan (pouring the beer into the hot pan and scraping all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan).  Let the beer boil until the alcohol is cooked off, about 4 or so minutes, then add the tomato sauce.  At this point add the rice, seasonings, chicken, and sausage back into the pan.  Bring to a boil and then cover the pan.  Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  After the 20 minutes is over, remove the chicken thighs and shred the meat off of them.  They will be hot, so do this carefully.  Add the shredded meat back into the Jambalaya mixture and the halved shrimp.  Cook for an addition 5 to 7 minutes or until the shrimp are done.  Serve warm and possibly with some steamed edamame.  Spicy, delicious, and comforting! 

  Paula Dean's Recipe

Feta, Shrimp, Cucumber and Orzo with Lemon Dressing

I'm not really sure what brought on the idea of making this pasta dish besides the fact that it looked really good and would counter the spice of the jambalaya dish that I was also making.  I originally had found this while watching the Foodnetwork and I didn't make many changes, but I did leave out quite a bit.  I'm not a huge fan of dill, hate raw onions and forgot to buy parsley at the store, but I figured I would try it anyway; the worst that would happen is I would have to figure out a way to jazz it up.  However, with the roasted shrimp, fresh lemon juice and feta, the pasta dish was perfect anyway.  So without much ado, here's my pantry version of Feta, Shrimp, Cucumber and Orzo with Lemon Dressing, the original recipe links follows at the end. 

 salt

olive oil

3/4 pound orzo pasta

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used two lemons)

1 tsp lemon zest

black pepper

1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut in half

1 cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and diced

3/4 pound feta cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and simmer for 9  minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's cooked al dente. Drain and pour into a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest,  1/2 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.
Meanwhile, place the shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Roast for 5 to 6 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. Don't overcook!
Add the shrimp to the orzo and then add cucumber, onion, 1 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, taste again for seasonings and bring back to room temperature before serving.   YUMMMMMMYYYY!