Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya Casserole

After eating at Don Pepe II over winter break, I have been craving jambalaya and paella. Since saffron is so expensive but a key ingredient in cooking paella, I have been putting off making paella. Jambalaya is a close cousin of paella with creole seasoning and uses chicken, shrimp, and andouille or smoked sausage. So until I get rich and can afford the costly saffron, I will stick with cooking the similar-tasting jambalaya.

The timing of cooking this jambalaya is definitely not ideal - I am leaving my apartment tomorrow for 3 days and therefore did not want to grocery shop and risk having to leave leftover vegetables in my fridge. Therefore, I end up not using onions, green peppers, or celery ribs in my jambalaya. Supposedly though, those are the essential vegetables, so next time I make jambalaya I will make sure to include those ingredients. Instead, I used what have been in the freezer for awhile - A mix of corn, green beans, and sweet peas. I also have chicken andouille sausage, chicken breasts, and shrimps in my fridge, so I threw them in the casserole as well. The key is to adjust the amount of spice and chicken broth to accommodate for these extra ingredients. You may want to adjust the amount of spice you put in the casserole anyway depending on your personal taste. If there is not enough chicken broth, the rice will be way too dry. I didn't use the "browning sauce" because I have no clue what it is and when I "googled" it, it seems like all it does is make the food slightly brown. I also sprinkled some thyme and creole seasoning in the casserole before putting the baking dish in the oven.

I never baked uncooked rice before, but everything turned out well! Of course the top layer is slightly "crunchy" because the jambalaya casserole is oven baked, but if you know me at all, I love slightly burnt rice! So I served myself the top layer of the casserole and served Marc the jambalaya underneath.... Perfect!

    

Serving Size:

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 large onions, chopped
1 large green peppers, chopped
1 celery ribs, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup butter
1 pound fully cooked smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups uncooked long grain rice
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon browning sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
In a large skillet, saute the onions, green peppers, celery and garlic in butter until crisp-tender. Place in a very large bowl; stir in the remaining ingredients.
Transfer to a greased shallow 3-qt. baking dishes. Cover and bake at 375 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until rice is tender, stirring twice.