At the heart of all Creole and Cajun cooking in New Orleans, is the old fashioned principle of one-pot cooking. There are so many famous dishes prepared in this way, that to try them all seemed impossible. However I stumbled across a great restaurant at the corner of Chartres Street that offered a sampling platter of red beans and rice, gumbo, shrimp etoufee and jamabalya. Each of the main dishes I sampled contain different proportions of the same ingredients. The cornerstone of this style of cooking is the Holy Trinity of onion, celery and peppers. This is similar to the European mirepoix (minus the carrot) which serves as the basis for the majority of our stews and soups. In addition, flavours such as paprika, cayenne and black pepper feature heavily.
It was therefore, quite remarkable to me that these dishes contain the same principle ingredients and yet taste so different. My favourites were the Gumbo and Jambalaya. The deep smokiness of the former is achieved through making a roux which is cooked until dark brown – rumour has it that Creole housewives used to cook the roux until it was the colour of their skin. The addition of traditional Andouille sausage and okra round out this dish, which is consumed either as a soup of over rice. However, my ultimate favourite is the Jambalaya, the robustly flavoured rice and the addition of tomatoes create a taste more in line with English sensibilities.
A traditional Jambalaya is cooked in one pan, and has a lot in common with its Spanish cousin Paella. I have cooked this meal for years at home and have made several tweaks to make it easier to cook. For example, I boil the rice separately and stir it into the stewed meat and vegetable mixture before serving. Ensuring that the rice has the requisite Al dente texture can be tricky, and by adding the rice separately, you avoid the hassle of ensuring all of the component ingredients are cooked at the same time. I have also added Polish kabanos sausages in addition to the traditional British bangers, as this is most like the Andouille of Creole cuisine. It adds a gentle savoury smokiness that is missing from most anglicised versions of the recipe, so it’s worth your while searching through the charcuterie section of the local supermarket.
Level: low/medium
Methods: meat cookery, reduced sauce
Skills: boiling
Time: 1 hour
Makes: Serves 4-6 people
Ingredients
2tbsp olive oil
6 good quality sausages
400g skinless boneless chicken thighs
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 each of red, green and yellow peppers, deseeded and finely sliced
2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
10 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
1tsp smoked paprika
1/2tsp cayenne pepper
3tbsp plain flour
1tbsp white wine vinegar
750ml chicken stock
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
150g Polish smoked kabanos sausages
300g basmati rice
600ml water
salt
freshly ground black pepper
spring onions, finely sliced to garnish
Method
1. Put a splash of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat.
2. Add your sausages and chicken thighs. Fry for 6-8 minutes until golden and cooked through. Take them out of the pan and put them on a plate to rest.
3. Add the onion, peppers and celery to the fat and fry on a medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
4. Meanwhile boil the rice. Place the rice and water into a saucepan, cover and bring to the boil. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and leave covered until needed (this is essential as the rice steams and shouldn’t get sticky).
5. When your vegetables are softened, stir in your garlic, chilli, thyme and spices and fry for another minute or two. Stir in your flour and vinegar.
6. Next add the chicken stock and tinned tomatoes, using a wooden spoon to break them up a little. Season with salt and pepper, stir, then bring to the boil and let it cook for 15 minutes until thickened slightly.
7. Meanwhile roughly chop the sausages, chicken thighs and the cured kabanos.
8. Add them to the pot along with the cooked rice. Stir.
9. Serve when warmed through with chopped spring onions to garnish.
Mastication / Destination 