And So It Begins

So. I've started this as a kind of spur of the moment idea - lets see how long i actually stick to it.
Before we begin ladies and gents.. I'd like to take a moment to point out *Disclaimer* I am in no way a literary master - so expect no perfect prose here.

Project Number 1 - Jambalaya.
Now I know what we're all thinking.. "But jambalaya isn't souuuup!!!1!@"
True..but it's more or less a stew - and it's the first thing i made since having the idea for this little piece of heaven. So Jambalaya it is.

Down to business.. This is far from traditional recipe. It resulted from more of a.. "What have i got around?" concotion than a flesh and bone recipe. I consider it a Creole/Red jambalaya simply based on
Ingredients:
*1 box Rice a roni - Beef.. rice/vermicelli, carrot etc., beef bullion, 2Tbsp butter for rice
*Leftover pasta stuff: 2 sweet italian sausage, 2 hot italian sausage, 3 medium meatballs, a cup or so of sauce from canned - tomato puree, sliced stewed tomatos, tomato paste, and tomato sauce.
*1 onion
*oil - i used olive oil since i didn't want to open my new veg. oil
*Hot Sauce - i used franks
*Liquid Smoke
*Garlic - wasn't in the mood for cloves so i just gave it a dash of powder *not garlic salt..there's enough salt in the other things going in*
*My Chili Powder - chile pepper, onion, garlic, cocoa powder, oregano, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, coffee grounds
*Old Bay - salt, celery seed, bay leaf, mustard seed, black and red pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and paprika - used in lieu of seafood, since I had none.
*Lemon peel - for no other reason than that I like it.
All ingredients of an additive variety should be considered "dash" or "to taste" - I promise to be more exact in the future..

I started by sweating the onions in the olive oil over med-high heat, and sprinkled on the garlic powder - I used this time to cut the sausages into coins and to smash the meatballs. In another pan - as you traditionally make jambalaya ingredients separately - I browned the rice in butter and set it aside. The meat was then added to the onions while the beef bullion and tomato sauce were added to the rice, covered, and left to simmer. Some 15 minutes or so later the meat/onions were added to the rice, seasoned with the aforementioned chili powder, old bay, and lemon peel, re-covered and left on med-low heat to get a nice "crust"

After a little time had passed I uncovered the pan and hit it with a couple dashes of hot sauce and a dab of liquid smoke to help give the illusion of hours of simmering I, frankly, wasn't waiting for. I spooned it out into a few bowls, cut up some toast points, and we went to town on it.
It went over great, and I enjoyed it. I didn't think to have my camera ready for this.. so i took a few soso camera phone pictures during the ordeal.. and there you have it - long story short.. Project 1 - Jambalaya = Success!



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