Dan L Hernandez
   
Food

Dan’s Jambalaya

By: Dan Hernandez

Ingredients:
8-10 good-sized garlic cloves
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cups chopped onions (one red, other two yellow or white).
1 ½ cups chopped bell peppers (one pepper red or yellow).
1 cup chopped celery
1 lb of Andouille sausage or Portuguese chorizo
2 lbs of chicken meat (breast or thigh) cut into 2 – 3 inch pieces
3 bay leaves
3 cups medium grain white rice
6 cups of water
1 cup chopped green onions
1 ½  tspns of cayenne
3 ½  tspns of salt
2 tspn of black crushed pepper
1 tspn of dried oregano

1. Pour the olive oil into a large kettle with tight fitting lid and set to medium heat.  Throw the garlic (chopped up), 1 tspn of cayenne, 2 tspns of salt, 1 tspn of black crushed pepper, 1 tspn of dried oregano, chopped bell peppers, chopped onions (not the green onions) and celery into the kettle and mix well.  Stir often for approximately 20 minutes.  Do not allow to stick to the sides of the kettle.

2. Boil the Andouille sausage (or Portuguese chorizo) in a separate pot for approximately 5 minutes.  Cut the sausage into ¼ inch slices and throw into the Jambalaya kettle.  Stir often for approximately 10 minutes.

3. Add ½ tspn of cayenne, & 1 ½ tspns of salt & 1 tspn of crushed pepper into the chopped chicken & mix well.  Throw the chicken and 3 bay leaves into the Jambalaya kettle, mix well and, cook for approximately 10 minutes.

4. Throw the 3 cups of white rice into the Jambalaya kettle and mix well for approximately 2 minutes.

5. Pour the 6 cups of water into the Jambalaya kettle and mix thoroughly.  Cover, drop the temperature on the stove just a pinch and allow to cook for 20 minutes.  Lift cover and mix well again and cover and again, drop the temp to ¼ heat (half way between low & medium heat) and let it cook for another 30 minutes.  When the juices are absorbed into the Jambalaya throw in the cup of green onions and mix well. Time to eat!

This will feed approximately 6 people with a hearty appetite quite well.  Goes down very well with a robust red wine such as zinfandel or shiraz.
It does pack a little bit of a kick – enough to make you feel alive but not enough to set you to run to the nearest water source.