I've used Zatarain's mixes in the past to make jambalaya - I'm not usually a boxed dinner person they're great to put tasty food on the table really fast. When I wanted to try to make jambalaya from scratch for the first time, where else to look but Emeril?I used all three proteins as his recipe requires - shrimp, chicken and andouille. I haven't cooked with shrimp hardly at all at home - this might have been my first time, now that I think about it - and I accidentally purchased shell-on shrimp that also needed de-veining. Not a huge deal, but a smelly job and one I'll probably side-step next time by buying shrimp with these things already done.
The single biggest problem I had with the recipe was the amount of time it said it would take for 3/4 cup of rice to absorb 3 cups of chicken stock. The recipe says this step will take 15 minutes. Anyone who has ever made risotto knows how unrealistic this is. It took closer to 45 minutes. Not a huge deal, but we were really hungry after waiting the extra half hour.
The recipe has a good back heat that you notice on the first bite but which builds up in your mouth after several bites. We love spicy food, so this wasn't a problem for us, but it might be for the spicy-sensitive. I might add a little more of the Creole seasoning next time, but otherwise there was a good depth of flavor from all the different seasoning ingredients.
The star, perhaps not surprisingly, was the andouille. We were all picking the sausage slices out of our bowls. Overall a very good recipe, that might approach "wow" status with a little more tinkering.
No comments:
Post a Comment