Jambalaya is a Louisiana classic and was something that I was very excited about trying while we visited
the state. This dish is a combination of classic Creole seasoning (onions, celery, and bell peppers),
andouille sausage, chicken, shrimp, tomatoes, garlic and herbs, mixed with rice. Being a one pot meal, it
was the perfect dinner choice for easy on the go families.
History of the food -
The exact origin of the dish is not clearly defined, but as can be seen by the different regional influences
of cooking style (French, African, and Caribbean) this dish most likely was brought about from a mingling
of ethnicities in the port city of New Orleans. Jambalaya is like a Spanish dish called Paella. It is thought
that the Saffron which is the main ingredient was difficult to get in the US, so the dish was transformed
using tomatoes to create the classic Jambalaya we know today.
Different types of Jambalaya (CreoleVs. Cajun) -
Jambalaya is a recipe that has many variations from family to family and particularly there are two
different types, Creole and Cajun. Creole is typically beginning by cooking the meats and the holy trinity of vegetables (onion, celery, and bell pepper). Once that is cooked the tomatoes, chicken stock and rice are added. For the Cajun variation the meat is cooked first and removed while the vegetables are cooked, then followed by stock and rice, this variation does not include tomatoes. The recipe that I am sharing with you today has a combination of both styles that I thought complimented each other nicely to give a lot of flavors in every bite!
Award winning dish!
During our stay at Abita Springs RV Resort, they were holding a Jambalaya cookoff. I saw the sign when I
signed us in but didn’t sign up at first. I surely thought there was no way that I could win a cookoff of a southern dish. Side note: I am a very competitive person so when I enter a competition I do
it with every intention of winning. After losing the Chili cookoff a couple months back I was hesitant, but
Connor was excited as well to try our hand at cooking Jambalaya; not to mention we also got to be judges for all entries!
We went shopping at the local Rouses Market grocery center where we picked out our fresh cut
holy trinity seasoning, T-Roy’s Swamp Shake Cajun seasoning and some fresh Andouille sausage. The day
of the competition we also went on a hike. Once we got home, we had exactly 1 hour to make it so that
we didn’t miss the submission deadline. We combined some of the recipes we found online to come up
with this Cajun/Creole Jambalaya dish. We got it completed in just under an hour and everyone was
lined up and waiting on our final entry. Total there were four entry’s and about 40 tasters/judges. After all the food was cleaned out and all the votes were tallied, we were declared the winners!
Please enjoy and let us know how your pot of Jambalaya turns out!
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