First Creole cooking lesson: Jambalaya

Liz has agreed to give me some cooking lessons this summer. I need to know how to make New Orleans fare in order to study it properly. So we picked jambalaya as our first dish. I have to admit that I was a bit creeped out by the unpeeled shrimp and the ham hocks that we bought at the grocery store (I've never been that comfortable working with meat, fish and shellfish in the kitchen). But I have to get over that, and fast (and there is not better time than now!)

I took a few notes on the preparation:

Ingredients:

*1 lb unpeeled shrimp

*4 tbs olive oil

*1 onion chopped

*1 green bell pepper chopped

*2 stalks celery chopped

*8 oz cooked chicken

*2 bay leaves

*1 tbs of Creole seasoning

*3 uncooked sausage links

*3 smoked ham hocks

*1 tsp of thyme

*1 tsp of pepper

*juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions:

-Peel l lb of shrimp (pull off the heads, the tails and the exoskeleton and place bits in a medium saucepan). Set peeled shrimp aside.

-add water to the medium saucepan full of shrimp exoskeleton bits and bring to a boil (this will become the stock for the jambalaya).

-heat an extra large pan on medium high, add 4 tbs of olive oil.

-chop onion, green bell pepper and celery into roughly quarter inch size pieces. Add to pan and saute (stirring occasionally). Saute on medium high heat until the onion and celery become somewhat translucent and begin to brown.

-pull 8 oz of chicken from a pre-cooked whole chicken (the rotisserie kind you can pick up at the local grocery store). It is good to use up the dark meat and then throw the bones and extra chicken bits into the shrimp stock that you are bringing to a boil. This will add richness to the shrimp stock. Add the 8 0z of cooked chicken to the large pan of vegetables. Stir. Reduce heat to medium.

-Once the shrimp/chicken stock comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium and let it boil for 10-12 minutes and strain. Set stock aside.

-add 2 bay leaves and 1 tbs of Creole seasoning to the pan of chicken and vegetables. Stir until seasoning is incorporated.

-add three links of uncooked sausage to the pan and let cook through. Once cooked, take out of pan and slice into "coins" and place back into the jambalaya pan.

-add 3 smoked ham hocks, 1 lb of brown rice, 1tsp of thyme, 1 tsp of pepper, and the juice of 1/2 lemon to the jambalaya pan. Stir and let cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.

-add the shrimp/chicken stock to the jambalaya pan. Add more water to the pan if necessary (depending on what type of rice you use). Cover the pan and let cook on medium low for 30 minutes.

-add shrimp, reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for 10-15 minutes.

-dish out about 1 cup of jambalaya onto a plate or bowl. Enjoy!