Chicken Sausage and Ham Jambalaya

Haynes

1 tablespoon oil

2 pounds of skinless boneless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning or combine salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder

1 pound sausage, cut into bite size pieces

1 pound cubed ham

2 cups diced yellow onions

1 cup diced green bell peppers

1 cup diced celery

2 tablespoons sliced green onions

6 cups chicken stock, room temperature

3 cups raw medium grain rice

Prepare everything before starting. It goes quick between steps and any delay may cause scorching.

Dice and combine the trinity of onion, bell pepper and celery in one bowl. Cut all your meats, season the chicken. Measure out your stock, measure out your rice, slice the green onions keeping all the ingredients nearby to use quickly as needed.

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Use a minimum amount of oil, but no more than one tablespoon.

When browning, you are not fully cooking, just add some color. Heat the pot fully and don''t crowd the pot when browning. Brown the chicken, in batches if necesarry, remove and reserve. Brown the sausage, remove and reserve with chicken. Brown the ham, remove and reserve with chicken and sausage. Fond in the bottom of the pot is desired. (Fond is browned food "stuck" to the pot, but not burnt).

After removing ham, immediately add the onions, celery, and bell pepper to the hot pot. The moisture in the vegetables will help release the fond. Cook, stirring often, scraping the bottom, for 5 minutes. Proceed once the seasoning vegetables are soft and have a golden color. Color is flavor.

Add the rice, (no stock yet), stir everything together. Allow the rice to absorb any moisture for a few moments.

Return the chicken, sausage, and ham to the pot as well as any liquid from the meat bowl. Stir everything together, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the green onion. Then finally add the stock, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot to release all the fond. Bring the stock to a low boil.

Cover the pot, leaving it covered until it has finished cooking.

Option 1. Turn heat to simmer and cook for 25 minutes until stock is absorbed and rice is cooked.

Option 2. Place the covered pot in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Whichever option you choose to finish the jambalaya, after cooking, remove the pot from the heat, leaving it covered, and allow the jambalaya to steam in the covered hot pot for 15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy.

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