Marinate the chicken for at least a couple of hours. Then drain the chicken, but reserve the marinade. Griddle the chicken until it's done, then pour the marinade over the top and let it come to a boil for a couple of minutes. Very important to let it come to a boil. If you're squeamish about using the leftover marinade, you can just make the marinade separate for sauce.
that sounds pretty bomb. I might try it... the only thing i dont have already is corn starch. [Reply]
Originally Posted by scho63:
Looks real good. I see about 50% of Jambalaya is "red" in color and 50% "yellow" in color.
Any idea which is traditional? I'm assuming the red has tomatoes added while the yellow is a straight roux.
Chicken stock also I'm guessing.
Both are. Red is creole New Orleans style. It originated with the Cajuns, though (the yellow). You're correct about the tomatoes. It often has a little tomato sauce added, as well. No roux in the yellow. The color comes from browning the meat and trinity (onions, bell peppers, celery).
Cajuns came from the french acadian population in Canada after the Brits took over. Creoles are descended from the original french and african population in LA. Cajuns were/are often very poor and cooked a lot of one-pot meals like jambalaya. Creoles were a little better off and added more expensive ingredients like tomatoes. They do the same to etouffee.
Depending on whether you're talking to someone from New Orleans or coon-ass country one way is correct and the other is wrong. I'd say both are traditional at this point but at competitions in Acadiana they don't allow tomatoes.
My Cajun-style is pretty similar to this guy's in the link below. Click on "Jambalaya Gonzales Style Formatted" for a good Cajun style. He might be under seasoning his. I use 3 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2-1 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp white pepper, 1/2 tsp paprika and sometimes a little Tony's or Slap Ya Mama. Maybe 1 tsp. I put a green bell pepper in mine and just use chicken broth/stock instead of the bouillon. I don't think you need nearly as much vegetable oil as that guy, either. You have to make it in a cast iron dutch oven, too. You need a good crust from browning everything. A lot of the flavor and color comes from that and you won't get it from something nonstick. I was too lazy to dig the cast iron dutch oven out of the garage for that creole-style.
I think the same guy made a spreadsheet called the "Jambalaya Calculator." You can find it on google. Pretty handy tool. It's a pretty cheap meal if you aren't making a seafood jam. You can get a few meals out of it. [Reply]
