Butt Kickin' Jambalaya
A kicked up version that can be hot or not depending upon how much blacken you add.
A kicked up version that can be hot or not depending upon how much blacken you add.
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 0.25 cup vegetable oil as needed, for frying
- 1.5 pounds andouille sausage
- 5 pounds chicken thighs boneless, skin less
- 2 tablespoons butt kickin' blacken as needed for chicken
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt as needed for chicken
- 4 medium onions chopped
- 2 medium pablano peppers chopped
- 4 medium jalapeno chile peppers chopped
- 3 medium carrots chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced, or grated
- 4 medium jalapeno chile peppers minced, with seeds
- 6 medium charlie peppers minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cans diced tomatoes 56 ounce total
- 2 tablespoons butt kickin' blacken
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 2 cups long grain rice i prefer basmati
- 1.5 pounds shrimp peeled and deveined
- Carbohydrate 71.8793075 g
- Cholesterol 177.492 mg
- Fat 27.6939075 g
- Fiber 9.5772250174284 g
- Protein 37.31403 g
- Saturated Fat 8.631799 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (761g)
- Sodium 1617.6815 mg
- Sugar 62.3020824825716 g
- Trans Fat 2.84220800000001 g
- Calories 683 calories
Step-by-step
- Cut sausage into 1/2" chunks. Get some oil going in the pot you'll be cooking everything in, and brown the sausage. Remove from the pot. I use an 8 quart pot.
- While the sausage is cooking:Cut the chicken into chunks, 1/2 at a time (you don't want to crowd the pot, or the chicken will steam instead of brown) and brown in the same pot, adding additional oil if you need it. Remove the chicken and reserve with the sausage.
- While the chicken is cooking, you can start chopping the vegetables. "Charlie Pepper" is a real hot Thai.. pepper that has a 25 minute afterburn. I'm sure you don't have a plant, so you can use dried peppers that or thinner than a pencil and about 2" long. Just put them in a blender and blend with enough water to make a puree", then add it to the pot. Turn the pot down to a medium heat, add additional oil, if needed, and dump in the vegetables.Cook the vegetables over medium / high heat, covered, until they're soft.
- Add the tomato paste and stir until it's all incorporated. Add the sausage and chicken back into the pot, then the tomatoes and simmer for about 45 minutes. Or, until the meat is cooked through.
- At this point, you can either continue, or, turn off the heat, and finish it off the next day, or later, if you've gotten finished too early.
- Either the next day, Later, or, as the next step. Bring the pot back to boiling
- Wash the rice well to get rid of the excess starch that's on the outside of each grain. I do this by placing it in a fine meshed strainer, holding it under running water, and stirring it with my hand until the water runs clear, then add to the pot along with the chicken broth.
- Bring it back to a boil, add the shrimp, bring it back to a boil, then turn down to simmer, covered. Cook for an additional 25 - 30 minutes stirring every once in a while to keep the rice from settling on the bottom and sticking. Taste the rice to make sure it's done. let it rest for a few minutes, then serve. Don't worry if the rice hasn't absorbed all the liquid, the resting will give it a little more time to soak into the rice.
- If you have any left over, don't try to freeze it, I don't think it'll freeze well because of the rice. I save the left overs in plastic storage containers in the refrigerator. To reheat, place the Jambalaya in a pot, add a little water, and simmer for about 10 minutes. It'll come out as good as the first time you had it.
- Butt Kickin' Blacken contains neither salt nor sugar, and is available at www.capnrons.com?ID=BO.For additional pictures, visit www.capnrons.com?ID=BO
Ingredient proportions alone do not reveal how thermal energy transforms raw proteins into deep, complex savory compounds through the Maillard reaction. When boneless chicken thighs and andouille sausage hit a hot eight-quart pot, amino acids and reducing sugars react at temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit to build foundational umami flavors. Crowding the cooking vessel lowers surface temperature through moisture release, which forces the meat to steam instead of developing that crucial golden crust. Batch cooking prevents this unwanted phase change, keeping the heat high enough to caramelize exterior juices.
Managing Capsaicin and Spices
Capsaicin, the hydrophobic chemical compound responsible for the heat in poblano peppers, jalapeños, and hot Thai varieties, binds to pain receptors on the tongue rather than dissolving in water. Fats extracted from the vegetable oil and sausage help distribute these spicy compounds evenly throughout the dish so the heat registers as a harmonious background note rather than a sharp burn. Because capsaicin is stable under heat, simmering the diced tomatoes and pepper purees for 45 minutes softens the vegetal cell walls, releasing natural glutamates that meld with the meat drippings.
Starch Management
Raw rice grains carry an outer coating of loose amylose starch that causes gummy clumping if introduced directly to simmering liquids. Rinsing the grains under cold running water until the runoff turns completely clear physically removes this surface dust so each individual grain absorbs broth independently during the 25-minute simmer. Stirring periodically prevents dense starch from settling on the bottom of the pot where direct burner contact causes scorching.
