Jambalaya

 Hey, it's only a week late.. sigh. Life gets busy and homework and dishes and laundry and so many other things try to steal my time. Last week was Mardi Gras and we had a delicious pot of Jambalaya to celebrate. We don't observe Lent in our home, but it was fun to commemorate an old Louisiana tradition like "Fat Tuesday" by making a Cajun dish even my grandma Ruth would love.
Of course, like most of my cooking, I didn't follow all the rules of an authentic Jambalaya ...I added "a little bit of this, a little bit of that" to mix it up a bit and I omitted the ham hock (personal choice.. and a funny story! Let's just say that 4+ hours of cutting up hundred of pounds of ham roasts once, ruined ham for me. I can't stand the smell or the taste of it anymore). I also added tomato bisque soup to closer resemble a jambalaya I had at a restaurant.  That being said, there as many variations on jambalaya as there are for gumbo, or even chili. Each family typically has it's favorite recipe. This recipe isn't a family recipe, although I wish I had my grandma's jambalaya recipe. This is a "Smack Yo' Momma" take on a traditional recipe by Eula Mae Doré, a well known Cajun cook in Louisiana who worked for the family that created and produces Tabasco brand hot sauce. Eula Mae is the 'Cajun Julia Child' in my eyes.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs oil
1 chicken breast
1 lb beef hot link sausage, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 - 15oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of tomato soup (or preferably tomato bisque soup if you can find it)
1 tsp Cajun seasoning (if you don't have any on hand you can use 1 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
½ lb. cleaned, deveined shrimp, tails removed
½ lb. langostino or crawfish (I found these at Trader Joes... absolutely delicious! Tastes like lobster)
½ cup chopped green onions
1 tsp-Tbs hot sauce such as Tabasco (I used Sriracha... it's my favorite)

Directions:
Heat oil in large sauce pot. Add the chicken breast once the pan and the oil is hot and cook until done. Set chicken breast aside.
 Add sausage pieces to pot and cook and stir until heated through and just beginning to brown. Remove sausage and set aside.
Add onion, bell peppers, celery and garlic to the pot scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits.
While onions and peppers are cooking, chop the chicken breast and return the chicken to the pot. Add the cooked sausage as well. Stir to combine.
Add the diced tomatoes and stir.
Add the chicken broth, soup and seasoning. Bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add the shrimp, langostino, green onions and hot sauce. Stir. Cover and simmer 2-3 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked.
Serve over rice.