Spicy Lamb Sausage and Chicken Jambalya

4 small lamb merguez sausages (traditionally it’s andouille, but this worked fine. This was a bit of a random amount, but don’t use too many. In fact, the smaller the better because you want to take them out of their casings and chop them up fine. The more they spread out in the jambalaya the more each bite will have a good flavour)

1 small cooked chicken breast (optional. The mix of meat in this is really nice, but it makes it dense and protein-heavy, so only use if you want)

A handful of shrimp (maybe ½ lb. You don’t need a lot, but they’re great to toss on at the last minute to give a very tender texture to contrast the chewy sausage. I didn’t have them so I didn’t use them)

2 tbsp creole seasoning (below…I love that in the original recipe it’s called the chef’s “essence” - Emeril Lagasse, did you expect all the jokes I’m sure you now receive about women like me cooking with your essence?)

1 tbsp olive oil

3 peppers, diced (green, red, orange, yellow or black. Whatever you want. The bitter green and black ones are more traditional)

1 onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced (I used half the bottom of a head of a bok choy. It’s very similar and it was available at the farmers’ market. Celery was not. I eat the greens of the bok choy seperately)

3 to 5 cloves garlic (about 2 tbsp!), diced. This depends how much you like garlic. I like garlic.

½ chopped tomatoes, diced

3 bay leaves

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp hot sauce (I actually don’t have any of this, believe it or not, so I used a bit of liquid from a jar of open organic spicy salsa. It did the trick)

¾ cup long grain rice (I used basmati. Not exactly traditional, but it worked perfectly)

3 cups chicken stock (or vegetable)

Fresh black pepper to taste

subheading: Creole Spice Blend (use all dried spices and just mix this all together. It’s a great spice rub for meat at a another meal on another day, since it keeps in the fridge for a few weeks. My fall-back for fish or chicken is a dijon mustard on the meat or fish and then a generous sprinkle of this spice blend. Cook however you desire):

2 ½ tbsp paprika (preferably a hot smoked variety)

2 tbsp salt (you need all of this. It’s what makes this amazingly delicious)

2 tbsp garlic powder (Emeril and I are very much in agreement on this considerably large amount)

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp onion powder (I don’t have any of this…it’s sadder without it, but not the end of the world. The end of the world is if you skip the salt)

1 tbsp cayenne (love it…)

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried thyme (these last two are the less-expected creole spices that you wouldn’t think would be included but always are. Sometimes basil is also involved)

Looks like a ton of ingredients but this is a big mixed bowl of flavours - meats, vegetables and rice. You don’t need to make any side dishes if you don’t want to, though I always do because it’s too easy to eat too much of this in one sitting otherwise.

Directions at multiculturiosity.com

Never lose a recipe again, not even if the original website goes away! Use the Copy Me That button to create your own complete copy of any recipe that you find online. Learn more! It's free!

Page footer