Hard to Believe But Pochejp's Epic Jambalaya Post Was Over 6 Years Ago

March 20, 2010. I had been looking for someone to consult with to help with my jambalaya spreadsheet idea and this was the spark.

Thanks pochejp!

Jambalaya Gonzales Style

Here is his recipe in a standard recipe format revised and edited by me:

Jambalaya Gonzales Style
by pochejp

This recipe is for a 6 quart Dutch oven and feeds 8 to 10 with sides.

3 1/2 pounds pork temple meat (or pork shoulder) or boneless chicken thighs
Cajun seasoning (or a mix of salt, pepper and garlic powder)
1 pound andouille or good smoked sausage
¾ cup vegetable oil
3 cups long grain rice
3 medium onions, diced
4 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 cups broth (or water)
A little more water (for unsticking meat from the pot)
1 tablespoon chicken soup base or 3 bouillon cubes (double if using water)
3 tablespoons Louisiana Hot Sauce

Cut the pork into cubes, trying to keep a small piece of fat on each (It enhances flavor and tenderness.) Season the meat.

Brown the meat down really well. Let the meat fry until it starts to stick, then stir. Do that over and over again. Let it stick, then stir. Repeat. Sometimes a little water is needed to cool off the grease. The meat debris that sticks to the bottom of the pot (the gratin) will dictate your color of the rice/jamb. Season the meat each turn as you brown it. After the meat is browned down to dark fry, remove it completely from the pot.

Next brown down the sausage. Don't overcook the sausage and fry it too much. Just mildly brown it down – you don’t want to cook all of the taste out of the sausage.

After the sausage cooks a little, remove from the pot. Drain the grease out of the pot at this time but don’t lose the gratin (brown bits). Then add onions, green onions, garlic with a splash of water and cook till clear looking. This is when you scrape the bottom of the pot getting all the brown gratin from the pork. You will have to add small splashes of stock as you cook to not burn the trinity mix. This is when the color that the jambalaya starts to reveal it darkness. The browner the meat was cooked the darker the gratin will be making this mixture dark as well.

After the vegetables are cooked (clear looking) add all the meat back into the pot and mix well. Cook all the remaining water out of the pot at this time so the water measurements will be accurate.

Add the broth or water. Add the chicken base or bouillon cubes for added taste.
After it comes to a rolling boil, start tasting the liquid. You want it to be a tad bit salty because the rice will absorb the saltiness. Add the Louisiana Hot sauce.

Skim the remaining grease off the top. The boiling water will separate it from the broth.

After you get the taste like you want it and the pot is on a hard rolling boil, add the rice. Never add the rice until the water is boiling! Let it come back to a boil until the rice starts to expand and is "jumping out the pot". This is an expression we use due to the hard boiling liquid and the rice entrained in the liquid sometimes comes over the side. This is very important in order to get the rice to “pop”. Let the rice get noticeably bigger/expanded before cutting the heat and covering. You can tell is getting ready when the rice is thickening by stirring your spoon in the mixture. As it thickens it will get noticeably harder to stir. This should be achieved on a HARD boil and it is critical to the rice popping correctly.

When the rice has started to expand, cut back on the heat to low and cover. Do not lift the lid for any reason. Let this cook for about 25 minutes and then lift the lid and “roll” the rice. Don't stir it - roll it from bottom to top at 4 different spots. Re-cover and cut heat off. Completely. Let sit for another 15 minutes and then un-cover and eat.

[Let me know if I've made any mistakes.]