Hello everybody! I hope you are all doing fabulous this evening! This post is regarding the dinner that Juli made last night, which was Jambalaya and a zesty cheddar and jalapeno cornbread! This down South staple was a one pot dinner that had flavors to knock your socks off. I mean how can you go wring with Jambalaya? It is such a savory and spice filled dinner that will make anyone's frown turn upside down. Juli made the observation that it was a bit too tomato(y) flavored. Which I agree with because it was very red, almost like a chili, and the tomato flavor was slightly overbearing. So if you attempt to make this, maybe cut back a little on the tomato based ingredients if you don't like the strong tomato flavor.
But overall I still thought it was a great dinner and the cheddar jalapeno cornbread was the perfect side to go with it. I had never had that kind of cornbread before, but I absolutely loved it. With a little butter on it...mmm. The consistency was a little different that what I am used to. This cornbread was really dense and almost like a pound cake, instead of the typical crumbly cornbread. But I thought about it and I think the cheese could have been the reason it was more dense.
We also set out some honey to put on the cornbread, but at first no one used the honey because it seems kind of weird to add to a cheddar and jalapeno flavor, but Juli was bold and decided to try it. So she drizzled a little bit of honey on a piece and said it was actually really good! Who would have thought? So I tried it too, and sure enough it was!
For your viewing and cooking pleasure, here is the Jambalaya recipe! (www.myrecipes.com)
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 ounces andouille sausage, sliced
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (Sriracha)
1 (14.5 oz) can no salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, minced garlic, and sausage; saute 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add the rice, paprika, black pepper, oregano, onion powder, dried thyme, garlic salt and bay leaf; cook 2 minutes. Add broth, water, tomato paste, hot pepper sauce, and diced tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Add shrimp; cook 5 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Stir in parsley.
This Jambalaya is a great dinner to make when you just want to throw everything into one pot and not worry about having a massive pile of dishes to hassle with later. And as far as the spice level goes, I thought it was not too spicy, but Juli thought it was, so you can adjust the Sriracha and pepper and other heat ingredients to your taste buds desire.
And now for the cheddar jalapeno cornbread recipe!
Ingredients
1 cornbread mix
1 small can diced jalapenos
4x2 inch block of cheddar cheese (approx.)
Directions
Make cornbread mix according to package. Mix in diced jalapenos and some shaved cheddar cheese. Then layer some cheese on top and bake according to packaged directions.
It is super simple and it was delicious! And each bite had just enough heat, but the cheese was a nice accompaniment to the jalapenos.
Last night we had Juli's fiance Sam joining us for dinner! Usually he is a workin' man so he does not have dinner with us a lot, but we were so happy he joined us. Last night's dinner was really yummy and there were some awesome people around to share it with so I couldn't ask for anything more!
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