Oven Baked Jambalaya

Most Helpful Positive Review

Greetings all! :-) Thank you for trying my recipe, and for your reviews. Some have commented on the rice being under cooked, or mushy, and I'd like to address that issue. When I say stir half way through, please be sure to stir completely, from the bottom up and all around the sides. Oven temperatures very dramatically and not everyone has the same type of cookware. For my old oven, and the very large enameled roaster pan I use, the rice did cook correctly. I recently purchased a new gas stove and nothing cooks the same (wish I had my old stove back...LOL). It now takes 1 3/4 to 2 hours in my new oven. With this in mind, I suggest checking the rice more often during the baking time, or adjusting the cooking time and/or temperature to suit your oven and cookware. If you cut the recipe amounts by half, please remember to adjust the cooking time too. While cooking, the rice will absorb some of the spices; therefore the finished dish will not taste as spicy as it does before cooking. The amount of spices listed is for those with average tolerance for spice. Feel free to use more, or less, to suit your taste. Traditionally Jambalaya has more of a porridge consistency; therefore the rice will absorb most of the juices. If you prefer fluffy rice, surely you can cook the rice separately. If you like a soupy consistency, you can use less rice. This recipe can also be prepared in a large stockpot, on the stove top, if you prefer. I find it scorches easier though, so watch it closely.

PLEASE READ REVIEW BEFORE PREPARING THIS DISH!!!!! This is a first for me all across the board. The first recipe I prepared from Allrecipes.com. The first time I made any type of Creole dish. The first time I joined Allrecipe.com and my first review,(note I joined just to do the review for this dish!!!). Okay most reviews praise this dish a few say mush, so I was a little leary upon preparing this item. I gave a taste to one of my guest who is from a small town near New Orleans. He said excellent - the only thing the rice wasn't cook all the way & to take the tails of the shrimp but said it was the best. This is a dish that I would advise that you prepare a day before so that the uncooked rice will balance and the flavor will develope. Also the recipe was vauge regarding the juice of the whole tomatoes. I decided not to add the juice which paid off with it being more "ricey" versus "tomatoey". During the over baking when I stired up the mix I added more creole seasoning(about a tbl spoon), tabasco, fila powder and a 1/4 cup of butter (basically three spats equal to a 1/4 a cup). In doing so this became the dish of the evening - I never had so many people ask for my recipe. If you can buy a creole season blend - DO IT to make the season mix unless you already have most of the spices it will cost you a FORTUNE!!! In closing, this dish was well worth doing. 1000 praises for a dish well done. Thank you Joslyn H.

I have never even eaten jambalaya before, but my husband loves it, so I gave this a try. YUM! Oh my goodness, this is good. If you're wondering just how big a pan you need, I halved the recipe because it's just the two of us and it just BARELY fit in a 9X13 baking pan. I also used your recipe for the creole seasonings, instead of buying ready-made seasonings, and they were wonderful as well. My husband was ecstatic that I was able to make this for him. I used little beef smokies for the sausage as another reviewer suggested. Also, I didn't have the stock, so I just used chicken broth instead and it worked just fine.