Fully Jammin' Jambalaya

What memories to be eating delicious spicy food with my cousins Paul and Paula Matthews in Lafayette, Louisiana. Paula rarely spoke English as she was Cajun French and an awesome cook. I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana eight weeks premature and weighed four pounds but with Paula's cooking, I had the taste of Louisiana's best food when I was a young child. You betcha it was mouth-watering and you needed a huge glass of sweet tea with it for sure.

Although I was eight years old, one of my favorite memories is the greatest Cajun Celebrations we had of all time but the family didn't eat until about 10 p.m. at night and drank coffee all day waitin' for all the great down-home cookin'. I would ask my Daddy, "aren't we ever gonna eat today?" The adults drank chiche root of the chicory plant, which is roasted and ground for use as an additive to or substitute for coffee all day long but stay up all night laughing, eating spicy Cajun stew made with every vegetable and seafood that you could imagine and some of the best fried shrimp you ever put in your mouth. I decided to extend my family heritage cooking secrets and share this homemade recipe with you.

Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

14 oz. pkg of adouille sausage, sliced 1/4 " diagonally

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 stick unsalted butter

1 large green pepper, chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 can Hunt's Onion & Garlic diced tomatoes, drained

1 clove garlic, minced

2 large chicken breast, (lightly dusted with flour and fried until golden), diced

1-1/2 cups wild uncooked rice

2 tablespoons Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning

Directions:

In large cast iron skillet, add vegetable oil to skillet and fry chicken on medium heat for 10 minutes until almost done then add butter to complete browning process for additional 10 minutes. Add sausage, green pepper, onion, and garlic. Prepare rice according to directions in a medium saucepan, add Creole seasoning to rice. Add tomato sauce to cast iron skillet and combine everything together. Lower heat to simmer for 45 minutes. Remove skillet from burner and continue to blend flavors by allowing it to sit covered with lid for 10 minutes.

Don't forget to be Jammin' to your favorite jazz music right from New Orleans when you serve this tasty and spicy dish.