Cooking Cajun

Having never attempted Cajun cuisine, I had no idea how this dish was going to turn out. I figured that since I was using a jambalaya mix that included the rice and many of the important seasonings that I was half way there.

As I mentioned before, my friend Nicole had sent me a variety of Bayou Magic - a special blend of her grandfather's special Cajun spices. I still needed to get a few more ingredients, but the overall preparation of this dish was pretty easy.

When I assembled the rest of the ingredients I realized that I didn't have the can of diced tomatoes it required, but a trip out into the garden and a quick dice/saute of a handful of squishy tomatoes ended up being my substitute. I hadn't even really begun cooking and was already putting my own, "not-quite-a-cook" spin on things.

I crossed my fingers that my eye-balled proportions of chopped tomatoes would roughly equal the missing can and plunged ahead. I had been at Whole Foods when I realized that I needed a few other ingredients for this dish, and after a panicked call to Nicole, I was able to get the last few things - a can of cream of celery soup and some french onion soup. 

Nicole let me know that her family usually goes for the Campbell's, but seeing as I was in Whole Foods, this jambalaya was quickly turning into some New England/bougie version. 

You also need bay leaves & some extra Bayou Magic seasoning

Almost everything else was pretty much by the book...I followed the recipe right on the label of the jambalaya packet.

I started by poaching four large chicken breasts (instead of a whole chicken) in water seasoned by the Bayou Magic powder. Then, once the chicken was cooked, I took it out and added the soups, tomato, bay leaves, contents of the package and some sausage. 

Since we keep kosher, I had to change up the recipe, and instead of using smoked pork sausage, added some delicious turkey and chicken andouille sausage I picked up at Whole Foods. While I let that come up to a boil, I cubed up the cooked chicken, only losing a few pieces to my son's belly. 

I added the chicken back in and then let it cook. The house smelled absolutely phenomenal and it actually looked like jambalaya! 

Then it was time to taste test. I needed to try a bit to see if the rice was fully cooked, and when I went to taste it, I literally had to fight back tears. It was really spicy. I thought that perhaps I had bit into a spicy part, so a little later I tried some more. I swear my tongue turned numb, and my lips burned for a good five minutes afterward.

I panicked, thinking that I had somehow ruined the dish, perhaps added too much Bayou Magic at the start. But, once people started filling up their bowls, and then their stomachs, it became apparent that I was the problem, not the jambalaya. 

My new goal? To toughen up my taste buds for the next time I attempt some Cajun Cooking.