Jambalaya

After baking a turkey for two adults and two young children, one is left with ALOT of leftovers. In an attempt to find pleasant dishes to make with the remaining meat without eating chicken sandwiches for an entire week, I tried The Good Home Cookbook's Jambalaya. I was pleasantly surprised with how well this turned out and how Wednesday didn't feel like leftover night.

The Recipe

2 slices of bacon
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 medium celery ribs, also diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups long-grain white rice (I had basmati)
2 tbl tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomato (I used a 28 ounce can)
2 dashes of hot sauce, such as Tabasco
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 pound smoked ham, diced (I traded this for 2 Italian sausages)
2 c cooked chicken or turkey, shredded or diced
2 c cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used one of those shrimp crowns, they were on sale)
1/4 fresh parsley (that I forgot)
salt and pepper to taste


1. Cook the bacon (and sausage meat if you prefer it to ham) in a large skillet (If you have a large skillet with a lid, I suggest you use that one) over medium heat until the bacon is crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel to drain.

2. Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic to the bacon fat, and sauté 5 minutes, until softened.

3. Add the rice and tomato paste to your skillet and sauté until the tomato paste darkens to a mahogany colour, about 4 minutes. Stir in the broth, the can of tomatoes, hot pepper sauce, thyme and the bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle boil and cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

4. Uncover and add the ham (or sausage), chicken, shrimp and parsley. Replace the cover and let stand for 15 minutes.

5. Fluff the rice with a fork. Crumble the bacon and mix in. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add hot sauce to taste. Remove the bay leaf and serve


The Verdict


I only had jambalaya once before in my life. I am in no way an expert on american cuisine, but this tasted very good. It had a nice spiceness and a great variety of flavours. My boyfriend loved it, but  the idea of rice not being white was weirding my kid out and he didn't touch his plate.

I must say though that the list of ingredients is a bit long for a leftover dish. Unless you had a Christmas buffet recently or you planned this one ahead of time, it's not prepared with staple items that everyone keeps on hand at all times. So even though it is a delicious and great way to pass your leftover chicken, you might be disappointed if you decide to throw this together last minute. In fact, that's part of the reason why I had never made jambalaya before. I am definitely glad that I took the time to add this to my meal plan