Jambalaya

"Son of a gun, well have big fun on the bayou ..."

I'm a big fan of cooking big portions, and freezing for future meals. This recipe made 4 generous meals for two. I froze 3/4 of the meal in three separate containers that we can enjoy some evening in the future when we're too tired to cook.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs shrimp (raw, shell and tails removed)


• 1 lb chicken andouille sausage links


• 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 in. bites


• 3 c brown rice


• 6 c chicken stock


• 6 - 8 celery ribs, chopped


• 2 lg or 3 sm green bell peppers, chopped


• 2 lg white onions, chopped


• 3 cloves garlic, chopped


• 1/2 c white wine


• 4 bay leaves


• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp pick-a-pepper sauce (depending on your tolerance and any problems with ulcers)


• 2 tsp salt


• olive oil

Preparation:

• I used a good stock pot for this one -- I like my Calphalon soup pot


• In a separate bowl, add chicken stock to rice and let rice start to soak


• Brown sausage and chicken in some olive oil, remove both when chicken is cooked through


• Add white wine to deglaze the pot


• Add bell pepper, celery, onion, and garlic -- saute for 5 - 10 minutes, until soft


• While veggies are cooking, cut sausage into 1/4 in. bites


• Once the veggies are soft, add chicken stock, rice, sausage, bay leaves, salt, pick-a-pepper sauce -- bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cover.


• Cook until rice is about 5 minutes from being cooked (20-30 min?), then add chicken and shrimp. Continue to cook until shrimp is cooked through.

Serve:

I'm serving the jambalaya with brussell sprouts baked in the oven with olive oil, bacon, and walnuts.