Jambalaya Results

So, the jambalaya ended up pretty fantastic.  The recipe said 10 servings and we had 12 eaters who were able to go back for seconds and thirds (and they did!), so we ended up with no leftovers.  That's a first for Sunday Night Dinner.  We usually have extra bread or salad or potatoes, but this dinner we ate EVERYTHING - two loaves of sourdough, a giant bowl of mixed greens with tomatoes and mushrooms, and a dutch oven full of jambalaya.

Ugh.  We added the okra.  I have never worked with it before and it is probably the most vile vegetable I have ever handled.  You cut into it and it's SLIMY.  So slimy, that you can't even rinse the knife off.  You have to wash and scrub it with a sponge.  We only used four and I guess they broke down enough that I didn't notice them in there, but they realy thickened the jambalaya.  Whatever the slimy stuff is, it works as a thickening agent. 

We ended up altering the recipe a little more than originally planned.  We used only andouille sausage and a beautiful bacon from the butcher.  We added garlic and bay leaves, smoked paprika, and fresh jalapenos.  We also used chicken broth and Mississippi Mud beer instead of the beef broth that the original recipe asked for.  About 20 minutes before we pulled it out of the oven, we threw in the shrimp and right before we dished up, mixed in green onions and sprinkled the top with Italian parsley.  Yum! 

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but toot, toot!  Dinner was great. 

We ended up foregoing any appetizer. There just weren't enough people here to eat it before dinner was ready.  The birthday boy's fiancee brought a chocolate cake for dessert and I had picked up a red velvet cake and so we sang Happy Birthday and he blew out his candles.  Surprisingly, everyone ended up eating most of both cakes, as well!  We had a hungry crowd last week and that always makes me happy.

I wish the pictures could do it justice, but taking pictures of something sitting in a big, black pot doesn't offer much for presentation.  Hopefully, you get the idea.