PORK

From the fall of 2009

Well, it is cold here, very cold, and I like something with a little snap to it in the middle of winter. Here is one of our family's favorite all time recipes. Now, before you turn your nose up and think you wouldn't like it, guess again. Ken made this for a large crowd once at a family reunion and he got lots of questions while he was cooking, "what is that, I don't like.........., etc." but that's all they had to eat for lunch so they tried it. It was a huge hit and I lost count of how many times they went back for more. Don't tell your kids what's in it, just serve it and see what happens. This is healthy and economical to make. It makes a lot so you can freeze what's left over and heat it up for a quick meal at the end of a long day.

In our early years of marriage before we had our farm, Ken worked on a tow boat on the Mississippi river. They live on the boat for 30 days and have different cooks each trip. You have to feed men well to work that hard and they had some wonderful cooks. That's where Ken developed his love for Cajun food. I don't care for Cajun so Ken learned how to tone it down a bit for me. If you love Cajun food, you'll love this but even if you don't, this is "sissy'd" up enough to make it appeal to everyone.

Jambalaya

1 chicken - preferably a pasture raised bird
1 pound of sausage (any kind of sausage will do, link, smoked, turkey or regular, but the spicier the sausage, the spicier the finished product )
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
A bit of oil (preferably olive oil or real lard)
2 cups of brown rice
3 cups of broth or water (or more)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Cook your chicken by either baking or boiling (slow boil) and retain broth. When it cools, remove from bones and discard skin. Cut chicken in chunks (you could use canned chicken for this instead). Cook your sausage. If you are using the link kind, cut into bite size pieces. If using regular sausage, brown like browning ground beef and drain. Sauté onion, celery, and garlic in oil until tender. In a very large stew pot, combine meat, vegetables, rice and broth from the chicken, (or water if you don't have enough broth) add salt and pepper and cook over low heat, covered. Stir occasionally but mostly just let it simmer. Cook until the rice is done. We prefer the brown rice for its fiber and taste but it takes about 45 minutes to cook (much less if you use white rice) so if you run out of fluid and it is still not soft, add more water and continue simmering until it is done. If the rice gets done but their is too much liquid, remove the lid and let it cook down. It should not be dry but this is not a soup either.

Serve hot as a one dish meal. For those who like to live dangerously, add a dash of Tabasco sauce. For us sissy's, skip the hot sauce!

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