Pitts Stop: I Survived January Jambalaya Party: A Story and a Recipe

I know I'm not alone in thinking that Januweary is the hardest month of the year. I kept myself very busy this last month, but, for the first time in my life, I admitted to myself, out loud, that January is hard for me. This one was especially hard because, in addition to all of my normal hard stuff, I can't see. My second pair of new glasses aren't working and I don't know if the issue is the prescription, the lens material, or the fact that I might need bifocals. The answer might be all three. I'm weary. My eyes hurt. My head hurts. January was just really rough. But it ended late night- Halle-Freaking-Lujah! Seriously. I'm so happy. And it wasn't freezing cold today. My 12 year old thought we should put up the trampoline. I had to put the kibosh on that idea, but it really was that warm. So, last night I cooked an amazing dinner. Then later I had a complete melt down about how hard this month has been, but mostly about how I'm tired of hurting. I made the stupid choice of crying for a while before I went to bed and I woke up with a swollen eyelid. But, let's not focus on that. Let's focus on the goodness -Jambalaya. So, a while ago I shared a recipe for Chicken Jambalaya, but it's time for an update. This recipe was given to my grandmother by a chef, and it's nothing like the traditional Jambalaya. I've been playing with the recipe with my daughter Amy and I think we've perfected it, so I want to share the updated version for anybody looking for a healthy, even keto-friendly(just don't cook rice), recipe to warm your belly. I'm going to share this the way I actually cook, so, if measuring by pouring, guessing, or whatever makes your heart happy annoys you, you should just go watch something on Netflix instead of reading any more of this.

CHICKEN JAMBALAYA

1 chicken

6 yellow onions

1 head of celery

1 bunch of green onions

6-8 cloves garlic

4+ Tbsp. tomato paste

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

cayenne pepper

dried parsley

chicken broth

1. I'm going to describe two options for the chicken. Both work well. The first option is to use a regular old, not actually old, chicken. The second is to use a Costco rotisserie chicken with the breasts removed(do whatever you want with those). Take your chicken of choice and put it in a pressure cooker. Add as much water as you want. You can either cover the chicken or just put about 4 cups of water in there. When I know I'm making Jambalaya I like to put less water so the broth will be more intense. If you don't have/don't a pressure cooker, stop being scared. It will change your life if you let it. Cook on high pressure for 2 hours. When it's done, take out the chicken and refrigerate. Leave the broth in the pot on warm until ready to use. It's a lot easier to bone the chicken if you refrigerate it for a while, but if you have no feeling in your fingertips, or if you enjoy pain, you can do it right out of the pan. I used a Costco chicken last night and got about 4 cups of meat. That really excited me because most people will throw away the chicken after eating the breasts and there is SOOOO much goodness left if you prepare it properly. Embrace the pressure cooker.

1.5. Start some rice if you want to eat this over rice. It's great with brown or white. It would probably be good with quinoa too. I think it would taste nasty with oatmeal though. I cook about 3 cups of rice. We like rice.

2. Chop up the onions, celery, green onions, and garlic. I like to make them about the size I would put in chicken noodle soup, so smallish. The size is not important. Do what makes your heart happy. I mince the garlic. You should have a lot of veggies. You will need a large frying pan. You can also just use a large pot.

3. Turn on the stove and preheat 1/2 cup of olive oil in the pan on medium high heat. Add the veggies along with the tomato paste. You want to have enough tomato paste that it makes everything a little pink. This is really important. It adds a tremendous amount to the flavor. Cook until the veggies are starting to soften. This might be about ten minutes. I stir them, throw the lid on and come back and stir every few minutes.

4. When veggies are about halfway cooked, add as much chicken broth as makes you happy. I am talking about the liquid you cooked your chicken in. I like to add a lot, probably 4 cups at least.

5. At some point you are going to have to take the meat off the chicken carcass. It's nice to do while the veggies start to cook. You can add that now, or stir it in at the end. Cook the stuff in the pot until the like the consistency. When you are happy, add the chicken if you haven't done so, sprinkle in as much parsley as you want, maybe 1-2 tsp, and add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Place the cayenne pepper on the table and let people add that to their own servings according to their taste/desire to melt their faces off.

7. Serve. Enjoy. This makes about 6-8 servings for hungry people.