Recipes from Teen Council and 4-H Members

Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya by Ivan Wei

Best dish award of the 2008 Food Festival

INGREDIENTS

  • Olive oil
  • 3 lbs uncooked rice
  • 3 pound chicken cut into manageable chunks
  • 2 pounds kielbasa sausage, cut in half and then bite-size chunks
  • 3 medium white onions, chopped roughly
  • 8 scallions, chopped roughly [about 1 cup]
  • 3/4 c celery, cut in half and chopped roughly
  • 1 green pepper and 2 italian peppers, chopped roughly
  • 7 cloves garlic, minced
  • 7 cups chicken stock
  • 2 T Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/3 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 3 big pinches of Sea salt [about 3 T]
  • Freshly ground pepper, plenty
  • Red pepper to taste - start with 1/8 t
  • 3 bay leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat large, heavy bottomed pan and cover bottom generously with oil. When hot, brown chicken chunks on high heat and remove to bowl. Add sausage and brown over medium flame, then remove to bowl. Add a little more oil and cook onions, garlic, celery and pepper as follows: first the garlic and onions and when onions began to turn translucent add the celery and pepper, stirring often over high heat until the vegetables are warm.

Cover pot and reduce flame to medium for 5 minutes until vegetables have expelled a little of their own juice. Then add scallions and cook on med-high flame, uncovered, stirring often, until vegetables turn golden brown. Add chicken stock, cilantro, Worcestershire sauce, plenty of salt [as the rice absorbs a lot of salt], ground black pepper and red pepper.

Bring the mixture to boil, and when boiling skim off all visible grease, then add rice and boil again. Put heat diffuser under pot and continue to boil vigorously until rice puffs up and becomes fat. Don't reduce the temperature too soon, because the rice will remain hard and a take a long time to cook! Then add the meats back in. Stir with a spatula once or twice while the dish is cooking - lifting rice from bottom to top. Be careful not to break the rice by stirring in a circular motion. When mixture is fragrant and visible liquid has been absorbed let pot sit for 20 minutes. Serve steaming hot!