Jambalaya over an open fire with q view

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peavley

Fire Starter
Original poster
Oct 12, 2007
56
12
Louisiana
I am not sure where to put this post, so I figured since it would feed about 100 people this was a good spot to put it.

We cooked a chicken and sausage Jambalaya over an open fire last weekend for my dads 40th class reunion.  Pretty basic jambalaya recipe except we cook it over the logs because we feel it gets a good smokey flavor using this method...plus it is more fun.

Start by cutting all the sausage while the fire is getting ready.

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Brown sausage, while it is browning finish cutting veggies.  This is where it is good to have two people.  Because of the intense heat you have to pretty much stir the entire time to keep from sticking...at least up until you start getting a lot of juices from the chicken.

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Remove sausage

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Cook chicken for a while.  Notice all of the liquid that the chicken produces...these 5-10 cups should be accounted for when measuring the water to rice ratio later.  We figured this time we would subtract about 6 cups of water to account for this liquid already in the pot.

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Return the sausage to the pot, add veggies (onions, celery, garlic and bell peppers) and add a little more hot sauce and cayenne pepper.  Cook until veggies are tender.

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Added the water and bring to a boil before adding rice.  This is where you should give it a taste test because once you add the rice there is no adding seasoning...well I guess you could but the rice would not absorb it fully.  At this point you want it a little more spicy than you would like your finished product because the rice will absorb it all.  Also if you want this would make an excellent gumbo at this time.

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Added the rice and brought back to a boil and simmered for a few minutes, then removed most of the logs, covered and let it work it's magic.

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Here is the finished product.  We think it turned out really good...he said that there were no complaints from the party.

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Now it sure does look good to me. I think I would enjoy and bowl or two of that stuff.
 
Not a bad lookin jambalaya for a boy from La.

 Looks great from here.

 Unless i am doing a show and tell, I allways chop my veggies ahead of time.

  Just makes cooking alot easier
 
Good looking Jambalaya - That is an interesting pot you got there.
 
I agree with eman, prep first then cook, better yet get a prep person and a dishwasher, that way you only have to do the cooking.  Nice looking Jambalaya, I need to try that, and quite hoping for some of my Cajun friends to cook it up.  Seems they eat more of my Q, than I eat of their wonders from LA.  We have got to rectify this!!!!
 
Peavley, great looking Jambalaya!  I used to do chili over a fire in dutch ovens for a charity event years ago so I can appreciate all the work that you put into that pot.  The one thing that I always do whenever I cook is to make sure everything is prepped and ready to go (mise en plas). I used to think that I could do so some prep work while other stuff is cooking-how quickly I learned that distractions (mostly folks that walk up and want to talk)will side track you and then you are in a hurry to get caught up.
 
Excellent meal, the only other thing I can say is "  Laissez les bon temps rouler".
 
 
Thanks yall. 

Yeah if you have never tried it over the wood fire you've got to give it a go.  One tip though, a lot of people use those stands that are pretty tall and they set their pot in it.  Those are good for serving out of, but you have to build a big fire to get the heat under it because it is so high.  You can do two things to avoid having to build a bonfire and burn your legs. ONE-dig small holes for your feet of your stand that will make your stand and pot lower to the ground.  Or your second option is to do like we do and get yourself some metal rods (3) and bend them and drive them into the ground and use those to set your pot on.  Don't wory we have never had our pot fall off yet, but as you can see below the dog is waiting for it to happen.  Using this method your fire is very minimal and you do not have to worry with burning your legs around the bonfire.  You can see our other stand is waiting in the background, we set it on that stand just to serve.

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Thanks yall. 

Yeah if you have never tried it over the wood fire you've got to give it a go.  One tip though, a lot of people use those stands that are pretty tall and they set their pot in it.  Those are good for serving out of, but you have to build a big fire to get the heat under it because it is so high.  You can do two things to avoid having to build a bonfire and burn your legs. ONE-dig small holes for your feet of your stand that will make your stand and pot lower to the ground.  Or your second option is to do like we do and get yourself some metal rods (3) and bend them and drive them into the ground and use those to set your pot on.  Don't wory we have never had our pot fall off yet, but as you can see below the dog is waiting for it to happen.  Using this method your fire is very minimal and you do not have to worry with burning your legs around the bonfire.  You can see our other stand is waiting in the background, we set it on that stand just to serve.

3b87662b_1012-10161.jpg
One more tip.

 Make sure that no one doing the cooking is wearing jeans that are worn and tattered at the bottom. them cotton threads catch fire quickly.

(Don't ask me how i know this)
 
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