Craft Beer and Food

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Easy Beer Jambalaya


There was a recipe listed at Examiner.com for “Beach Bum Beer Jambalaya”. I thought it looked interesting and tried it last night. I made a few modifications to the recipe and really thought it turned out well. I make Jambalaya quite a bit, but normally use the crockpot (must plan ahead) and wine. This recipe was just as easy, uses beer that is on tap in our kitchen and ready on short notice. I have changed the recipe slightly from the original version. To see the original go to http://shar.es/aSuht.

Last night I did not include shrimp and increased the chicken and sausage to ½ lb. each. We love Cajun food so I have started making my own mix of Cajun spices because all the commercially available ones have too much salt for my taste. You can use either. See Emeril’s recipe at Emeril's Essence.

The beer I used to cook with is our home brewed Ebb Tide Bitter and it was served with the meal. As you see in the photo, I drank my beer from a champagne flute. Trying different glasses to see how they affect the taste. More on that in my upcoming video & blog.

Try the recipe and let me know what you think. Great for a cold snowy or rainy night. Serve with a hearty bread or garlic toast.

Ebb Tide Jambalya

  • 1/3 lb chicken, diced
  • 1/3 lb Andouille Cajun or Smoked sausage, sliced
  • 1/3 lb 30 count shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut in half
  • Olive oil for sauté
  • 1/2 cup chopped red onion (use green onions and shallots for variety)
  • 1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
  • 3 tbsp chopped garlic
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz) or 1 cup fresh tomatoes diced.
  • 3/4 cup rice
  • 14 oz stock + 8 oz of Pale Ale, Brown Ale or IPA for beer jambalaya, chef gets the leftover beer) We used our latest brew the Ebb Tide Bitter
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Homemade Cajun essence seasoning (no salt version)
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Serve with Tabasco sauce

Directions

  1. In large cast iron skillet, heat olive oil to high and sauté shrimp seasoned with until pink, about 2-3 minutes, and set aside. Repeat separately with chicken and sausage.
  2. In olive oil, sauté onion, pepper, garlic 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add tomatoes, bay leaves and Cajun essence and cook another 3 minutes.
  4. Add rice, broth and beer. Stir and bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered until rice absorbs most of the broth, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
  5. When rice is just tender, stir in shrimp, chicken and sausage. Cook for additional 3-5 minutes.
  6. Remove bay leaves and serve. with garlic toast and a good beer!


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