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Chicken Jambalya
Cut into pieces 1 chicken and two slices of raw ham. Fry the whole in hot fat and set aside. In same fat fry one onion and tomato, when nearly done, add 1 cup rice, chicken and ham and let fry together, stirring constantly, add enough water to cover whole, let boil slowly until done. Season with pepper, bay leaves, chopped parsley and thyme. When cooked, let dry a little and serve hot.
A compact Creole one-pot written for cooks who already knew what jambalaya should look like. The proportions are loose, so the two things worth fixing before you start are the rice-to-liquid ratio and the seasoning, which the original leaves almost entirely to the end.
- The hinge: liquid and heat"Enough water to cover" is more than long-grain rice wants. One cup of rice needs roughly 2 cups of liquid once the chicken and vegetables are giving off moisture; add it in stages, keep the pot at a bare simmer, and cover so the rice steams rather than boils to mush.
- Season early, not lateThe recipe seasons after cooking, which leaves the rice bland. Add the bay (two leaves), thyme and pepper with the liquid so they infuse the grain, and stir the parsley in at the end. Salt is not mentioned at all -- the ham supplies some, but you will need more.
- The chickenThe recipe gives no weight. Use a 3 1/2 lb bird cut into eight pieces, or 2 lb of bone-in thighs, which hold up better to the long simmer than breast.
- Raw hamThis means uncooked cured ham, not deli ham. A thick slice of country ham, a piece of smoked gammon, or 6 oz of tasso or andouille all do the job; dice it rather than leaving it in slabs.
- "Hot fat"Most likely lard or bacon drippings, though the recipe does not specify. Any neutral oil works, but you want the pan hot enough to brown the chicken properly -- the fond left behind is most of the flavour of the finished dish.
- TomatoOne tomato, peeled and chopped, or about 1/2 cup canned. This is the tomato-inflected Creole style rather than the brown Cajun jambalaya, but one tomato is a light hand; go to two if you want more colour.
- "Let dry a little"Off the heat, uncovered, five to ten minutes so surface moisture evaporates and the grains separate. Fluff with a fork rather than a spoon.
- YieldServes four as a main course.