Jambalaya

Head on shrimp. Crisp celery. Bits of jalapeno for spice, onion for sweetness. Yellow rice. Ah yes, yellow rice mixing with shrimpy sauce!

A mix of Spanish Paella with New Orleans influence. Read a bit more of the history here.

Ingredients

Celery

Onion

2 Cups yellow rice (Zatarain’s) or use Saffron to give color

Tomato

Jalapeno

Lemon

Bay leaf

Large shrimp (head on preferred)

Parsley

Paprika

Recipe

Rice

1.

Saute dice onions and celery for 3-4 minutes with olive oil.
Add 1 Cup of water and 1 Cup of stock (below) and add rice and spices or seasonings, and bring to boil, then cover and reduce to low simmer for 20 minutes.

2.

As liquid has evaporated, now you can add shrimp and squeeze lemon, season to taste with salt and pepper.
When 2 minutes remain, add shrimp with all pan juice, then add diced parsley.
Season to taste and serve.

Stock

Heat shells and carcass in a small pan for 2 minutes until shells turn pink and fragrant then drop into a large soup pot, add splash of olive oil, bay leaf, seasoning, and a half tomato and onion slices. Heat on medium for 3 minutes. Then add 2 Cups of water into pot and bring to light boil. Cover and put on simmer.

Shrimp

Peel, de-vein, rinse shrimp, then dry, and sprinkle with paprika, salt, olive oil, and lemon. Sear in a pan for 5 minutes until no longer translucent but leave 2 or so minutes of cook time (will finish in the pot of rice).