This week’s Covid Cooking recipe for Prawn and Sausage Jambalaya comes from the BBQ pit-master and Crack Chicken Chef himself – Graeme ‘Gray’ Stockdale from The Stockpot Kitchen. The restaurant these days is in the Lismore CBD but The Stockpot had it’s hugely successful beginnings at the locals’ local – The Bangalow Bowlo.
If you have never cooked nor tasted Jambalaya there’s still a good chance you have a rough idea of what the dish is about. Cast your mind back to 1995 and episode 116 of Seinfeld – it’s the Soup Nazi storyline. Newman, having successfully ordered his single serving of Jambalaya, is so enamoured with his takeaway that he skips on the spot, nose firmly pushed into the brown paper bag as he inhales the spiced aroma of its treasured contents singing “Jambalaaaaaya!” Oh Newman!
Here’s what Gray has to say about Jambalaya:
“Jambalaya. A Cajun classic. Allegedly first made by European immigrants in New Orleans and deeply rooted in the Spanish paella. It’s a tasty-assed mash up of some kind of meat, smoked sausage, a few vegetables and rice in a pot, where they are left to make love and produce offspring of immensely really good flavour.
“Cajun cooking has a bit of a thing going on with the celery, capsicum (bell pepper) and onion, the Holy Trinity of Cajun cooking if you will, and I certainly have no problem with this. It works, it does what it is meant to do, it doesn’t cause any trouble and it’s clean. I love a good clean house guest … or Holy Trinity…
“This poor man’s dinner can be very easily consumed all by itself, but this sort of rice-y goodness can also act as a side for a fillet of fish, a nice piece of roasted chicken or grilled pork chop.”
And some Covid food for thought from Gray too:
“On a side note, this Corona virus shit certainly makes me realise why child mortality rates were so high in the old world. Also, it has made very clear why children were sent to work full time at such a young age. Coincidence that there was no proper school system to get the kids out of your hair and each other’s faces for 5 days of the week? I think not.”
I made Gray’s Prawn and Sausage Jambalaya recipe a few weeks ago and it was deliciously satisfying. I used smoked Chorizo from Salumi Australia because I had some in the freezer. I also used a whole red chill from the garden and it wasn’t too hot. We ate ours on its own – no added side of protein – demolishing the prawns and saving the leftovers which we reheated the next day and served with a fried egg on top.
For more recipes from Graeme follow him on Facebook HERE where he has also posted a growing series of hilarious cooking demos with the gorgeous Jennee under the title of his blog ‘Food is the best shit ever’.
Thanks Gray!
| Servings | people |
- 400 g Large Prawns peeled, deveined and 5 heads reserved for cooking
- 200 g Smoked Sausage such as Andouille or Chorizo
- 1 Brown Onion diced
- 1 Green Capsicum diced
- 1 Celery Stalk sliced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 Long Red Chilli chopped
- 1-2 tablespoons Cajun Spice Mix or your favourite BBQ rub
- 250 g Basmati Rice
- 1 litre Chicken or Vegetable Stock
- Salt & pepper
- Chopped Parsley and Lemon wedges to serve
- 1 or 2 Tomato chopped into chunks
Ingredients
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- Heat a pan over medium-high flame.
- Sauté smoked sausage, the Cajun holy trinity (celery, capsicum, onion), chilli and garlic in oil until softened and starting to brown.
- Add prawn heads, tomato and spice mix and cook out for a further minute.
- Add rice, stock and prawns to pan, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes or until rice is cooked.
- Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Check seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if needed.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon.
- Get it onto a plate or bowl of some description and then into your face so as to benefit from it’s tasty goodness.
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