Sample Recipe: Slow-Cooker Jambalaya  |
| Slow-Cooker Jambalaya |
By Jaden Hair, steamykitchen
This chicken, sausage, and shrimp jambalaya is one of my family's favorites. When it's cooked "low and slow" in the slow cooker, the chicken is especially tender and delicious.
Directions You'll want to prep and get this recipe going in the morning—the jambalaya needs four to six hours of cooking time on the slow cooker’s high setting, or six to eight hours if cooked on low. Serves 4 to 6.
Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sausage, season to taste with salt and black pepper, and cook, turning once, until browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken and sausage to a slow cooker, reserving the oil in the pan.
Add the celery, bell pepper, onion, and garlic to the pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the vegetables are softened and fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker. Add the broth, crushed tomatoes, Cajun seasoning, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and Tabasco sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 6 hours.
Once the jambalaya is cooked, turn off the slow cooker and skim away any excess oil on the surface. Add the shrimp and stir until pink, 3 to 5 minutes. (The residual heat from the slow cooker will suffice to cook the shrimp.) If desired, add more salt, black pepper, and Tabasco sauce. Serve the jambalaya over hot cooked rice or with bread.
Ingredients 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch-thick pieces
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, plus additional for seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional for seasoning
2 celery stalks, diced
1 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon Tabasco or hot sauce, or to taste
½ pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 cups hot cooked rice or 1 large baguette
Additional Recipes
A collection of recipes from the Web site Goodbite.com, these dishes are meant to be simple and easy options for a weeknight meal. Many of the recipes rely on shortcuts, and the most useful are those that help home cooks utilize quality packaged ingredients, such as pairing store-bought ravioli with a garlic-sage brown butter sauce. In many other dishes, however, the reliance on prepared ingredients takes away from the taste of the dish. A recipe that calls for Greek salad dressing would have fared better with simple olive oil and vinegar. Similarly, a recipe that calls for cooked chicken tenders from the deli case would have tasted much better with another supermarket option: rotisserie chicken. The most successful recipes are the simplest, such as a balsamic chicken or grilled flank steak with chimichurri. It's worth noting that the recipes are family friendly, with kid favorites such as lasagna, tacos, burgers, mac and cheese, and pizza. So while busy cooks could find recipes with fresher flavor elsewhere, these dishes are simple to make. (Sept.) (Publishers Weekly, June 13, 2011)
