Jambalaya - The Forge

This tried and true recipe has served me well on many occasions. It's flavorful, straightforward to make, and yields a lot of servings - everything the Forge is looking for! Unfortunately, it has also gained some infamy in being the dish that has caused me to burn rice the most often, something I've only avoided doing when I made it once at my parents' house (without the pressure). Anyhow, I am sure you will enjoy!

Heavily inspired by this Slow Cooker Jambalaya recipe from Budget Bytes!

Ingredients

Feeds:

Produce

[3] ribs celery
[1] yellow onion
[1] bell pepper (yellow or orange personal preference)
[4]-[6] cloves garlic

Protein

[1] ring smoked sausage (andouille is good, or turkey smoked sausage if avoiding beef)
[2] boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or [1] breast)

Seasonings

The quantities here represent the ratios I use and are a good baseline, but I often add more of everything :)

[1] tsp dried oregano
[1] tsp dried thyme
[1/2] tbsp paprika
[1] tsp cayenne pepper
Black pepper as desired

Misc

[2] cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (15 oz each)
Fresh parsley (optional, or use dried as desired)
[2] cups chicken broth (you better use chicken bouillon)
[2] cups white rice (uncooked (to start 🤠))
A few tablespoons of olive oil (if you use vegetable oil, your stove will explode)

Directions

Preparation

Dice all vegetables to an average size (nothing too fine here). Slice the sausage into small rounds.

Main cooking process

Add olive oil to large pot, and heat at medium heat.
Add all of the produce and seasonings into the oil, stir together, and cook to desired texture (remembering that the vegetables will also cook in broth after). At some point, add in the sausage rounds so they fry a bit too.
Add the tomatoes and chicken broth to the pot. Stir together, then add the chicken to the pot as well.
Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer until chicken cooks (usually relatively quickly, check it every few minutes).
Remove chicken, shred it, and add it back to the liquid (or break it apart without removing if you can).
Add in parsley if desired.

Cooking the rice

This is the step where I have often burned the rice, so be careful! The process I have followed with the best success is this:

Make sure the liquid is simmering, then reduce your burner to the minimum level (literally as low as it will go, and move it off of a power burner if possible).
Add the rice, stirring it into the liquid, and then cover the pot as fast as possible.
Cook the rice without opening the lid. This should take around 25 minutes, but it's probably good to check the progress 15-20 minutes in. When I did it, I let it sit for 20, then stirred the rice to check the tenderness and cooked it for about 7 more minutes.
Let sit for 3-5 minutes to cool down. Then, fluff the rice and serve!