Cooking always feels kind of therapeutic to me, and it's especially so when the results are delicious! I was reading my
Boston Globe magazine on the subway this week, and their recipe theme of the week was "chicken and rice." The second recipe was a jambalaya and I got inspired for something tasty that would make leftovers for days. Sure enough, the recipe was simple and delicious, though since it's a rice dish, a little bit time consuming as you wait for the rice to cook. I made the recipe more or less as-is, using Trader Joe's chicken Andouille sausage, parboiled rice, 2 chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken, and dried thyme instead of fresh.
Below is the recipe copied from the November 8, 2009 issue of the
Boston Globe magazine:
Louisiana-Style Chicken with Rice, a.k.a. JambalayaServes 4
1 chicken, about 3 pounds, cut into 8 pieces
Salt and black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
2 large ribs celery, chopped
¾ pound smoked sausage, such as andouille or kielbasa, cut into ¼-inch-thick half-moon slices
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
1½ cups homemade or packaged low-sodium chicken broth
1 14½-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1½ cups long-grain white rice
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
4 scallions, thinly sliced
Sprinkle chicken generously with salt and black pepper. In a large, heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it ripples. Place chicken pieces in pot skin side down (do not crowd pan -- brown the chicken in 2 batches, if necessary) and cook without moving them until skin is golden, about 4 minutes. Repeat on the second side, about 4 minutes longer (adjust the heat if the pot becomes too hot). Transfer chicken to a plate and, if necessary, repeat with remaining chicken. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin. Discard all but 2 teaspoons of the fat from the pot.
Set the oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Return pot to medium heat, add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and sausage, and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables soften, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add the broth and tomatoes, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken with accumulated juices, submerge in the liquid, return to the boil, reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer for 15 minutes. (At this stage, remove any white-meat chicken and set aside, covered tightly with foil.) Add the rice and 1½ teaspoons salt, stir to mix, cover pot, transfer it to the oven, and cook, stirring well every 10 minutes, until rice is tender (but grains still hold their shape) and the chicken is very tender and pulling away from the bone, about 30 minutes.
Remove the pot from the oven and add the white meat, replace the cover, and allow to rest until the white meat is warmed through, about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and taste, and adjust the seasoning with salt and black pepper, if necessary. Add most of the parsley and scallions, stir to mix, sprinkle with the remaining parsley and scallions, and serve at once.
