Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

The Cajun cuisine attempts continue..... This was less intimidating that the gumbo for sure but it was still something I wasn't sure if I could pull off. It worked though!!! With delicious results. My sister-in-law and my hubs are both super spice freaks ( I am not ) and added Tabasco and more crushed red pepper at the table.


You can easily make this with shrimp as well and there are instructions for that in the original recipe from Cooking Light. My hubs does not like seafood and that is why none of my dishes contain any! I will need to change that though... The link is under the name of the recipe as per usual! I doubled the recipe because I wanted a lot of leftovers and there certainly was plenty! It also reheats marvelously and would be an easy dish to make ahead of time if you are having company. One thing I really liked about this is there is no need for a side dish to go with it. This is also a man approved dish!!


I changed it up again as per usual and added more vegetables because I love me some veggie deliciousness. I also followed the advice of many reviewers on the original recipe and cooked the rice before I added it to the jambalaya. I cooked it significantly longer than the recipe recommended as well. I wanted the flavors to have time to really blend together and, in my opinion, it helped the rice to soak up the juices and become your typical jambalaya texture. 


Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Cooking Light
Printable Version

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 teaspoons Tony Chacheres or salt and pepper
• 2 cups chopped smoked sausage
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups chopped green bell pepper
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 3 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups uncooked rice (I used boil in a bag brown rice from Kroger)
• 5 cups fat-free chicken broth
• 4 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
• Tabasco sauce

Preparation:

• 1. Cook rice to your liking and set aside. I undercooked it a little bit so it would finish up in the broth.
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• 2. Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with Tony's or salt and black pepper. Brown the chicken for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and remove from the dutch oven and set aside. Then in the same dutch oven brown the sausage for about five minutes.

3. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cover and reduce heat to medium and cook until vegetables are tender. About ten minutes. 

4. Add broth, paprika, thyme, red pepper, tomatoes and chicken. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 30 minutes, skimming the fat off the top as it rises. Towards the end of these 30 minutes is a good time to start seasoning it to your taste with Tony Chachere's, salt and pepper, and Tabasco.

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5. Add the rice and simmer for another 15 minutes. Just keep an eye on it and when it starts to look like it's thickened up. 

6. Before serving stir in green onions and keep a few on the side to garnish each dish! I put hot sauce on the table for my beloved little heat seekers.

• Enjoy!

ME

Slow Cooker Pork Chops

So.. I feel like I've been neglecting my Blog and my poor sweet husband who came home after a week long business trip to me saying, "Well babe... we can go out?" I spent a good two hours yesterday looking for something that would make him happy and be a little bit different to put on here! 


I found about three different recipes and took bits and pieces from each one so I'm just going to call this one essentially an original. One of the things I realized when I sat down for dinner is that I never seasoned it with salt and pepper but it didn't matter. It was still delicious! I did use the chicken stock with full sodium so I believe it came from there but that works for me! The Hubs was so happy he has requested a regular rotation so man pleasing status is a full go!


I made two pork chops with this recipe and I would double it for four to make sure there is enough liquid to cook it in. This liquid will turn into a plethora of goodness and if I had known this when I began I would have definitely had toasted french bread or roll of some kind to sop it up with after the pork is long gone in the belly. I served it with a salad because I wasn't sure when the man was coming home but if I had the ability to time it I would have served it with brussel sprouts and I think asparagus would go well with it as well. They need to cook for about 6 hours and it takes 30 minutes to prep.


Slow Cooker Pork Chops
ME
Printable Page


Ingredients


2 bone in pork chops
1 medium onion halved sliced from root to tip
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs margarine
1 1/2 cup fat free chicken stock
Juice of 1/2 a large lemon or 1 small
1/4 cup of dry white wine (you could go without this but I felt it gave it a bitterness that I LOVED)
4 sprigs of thyme


Directions


1. Pour olive oil in a medium or large sauce pan over high heat and brown both sides of the pork chops. I covered it to prevent too much oil splatter. About 2 minutes on each side.


2. Place half the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker and then the pork on top of that. Add the thyme.


3. Lower the heat to medium high, put the other half of the onion in the pan you took the pork out of and brown the onion. After about three minutes add the garlic, chicken stock, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. - A good trick for juicing lemons is to squeeze it around a fork.

4. Add the mixture to the slow cooker with half the onion, thyme and pork chops in it. Cover and cook on LOW for six hours.

5. After six hours remove the thyme and plate the pork chop. Don't be surprised because it will be falling apart with tender goodness! I recommend using a spoon. The spoon as much of the delicious mixture over the pork as you would like. 

Enjoy!


ME