deb's down home jambalaya

How To Make deb's down home jambalaya

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  Step 1
  Add chicken to a large stock pot. Cover with water. Boil until the chicken is cooked. Debone and shred the chicken. Reserving all broth. I strain my broth and set it aside. Sometimes I cook the chicken the day before and put the broth in the fridge. This way, I can skim off all of the extra fat.
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  Step 2
  Cut the sausage into small circles and cut the ham into small pieces.
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  Step 3
  In a large skillet, brown sausage and ham. Cook for a while until most of the grease is cooked out. Remove meat from the skillet. Add just enough chicken broth to cover the bottom of the skillet. Stir, getting the brown drippings from the skillet, stirred in (deglaze the pan, as my husband says).
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  Step 4
  Add onion and bell peppers. Saute until tender. Add garlic at the end.
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  Step 5
  Stir in flour. I never measure the flour, just stir in small amounts until the liquid is absorbed. I usually transfer this mixture into a large stock pot at this time.
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  Step 6
  Add 6 cups of remaining chicken broth and bring back up to temperature; hot, not necessarily boiling. You want a lot of juice, so you can add water or canned chicken broth as needed. I use the canned broth first and then a little water if needed.
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  Step 7
  Add diced tomatoes (juice included), Rotel tomatoes, parsley, salt, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, and cayenne. Bring to a boil.
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  Step 8
  Add chicken, sausage, and ham. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
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  Step 9
  Add shrimp about 10 minutes before serving.
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  Step 10
  Serve in a bowl over cooked white rice so you can get a lot of the juice. We eat regular saltine crackers with it. The crackers seem to be the right flavor combination for this.
• Step 11
  MY TIPS: I never measure anything. I just put as much of what I like into it. I love the sausage and the shrimp the best, so I usually add more of those.
• Step 12
  This makes a lot, especially when you increase the ingredients, so I usually cook it in a large stock pot.
• Step 13
  I add a can of Rotel, mostly for that little bit of spice. We love it a little spicy, so I add more cayenne. Most of the time, I add 2 bay leaves.
• Step 14
  This recipe originally called for adding the rice raw and letting it cook with the jambalaya. DON'T! That will make it thick, and the juice is really good, so just pour it over the rice.
• Step 15
  Do yourself a favor and buy medium shrimp already peeled and deveined. I buy the frozen, cooked ones with the tails on. Thaw them, and all you have to do is remove the tails, which doesn't take long.
• Step 16
  You can wait until close to the end to add the chicken, but I think it will shred no matter when you add it.
• Step 17
  This always tastes better the next day, when the spices have set in overnight. You can freeze it if you want. I usually take some out before adding the shrimp to freeze if I know I have more than I need. Then, for a quick meal, all I have to do is add some shrimp and cook some rice.
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