Mr. Roark's Jambalaya

I grew up in a little Texas town near the Gulf of Mexico and near the Louisiana border where there is a lot of Cajun influence in the cooking.  This jambalaya recipe is the real deal.  A family friend named Mr. Roark at the church I grew up in created this recipe.  He grew up in Louisiana.  It is so good that my husband and I asked him to make it for our rehearsal dinner for our wedding.  We have friends that still talk about that jambalaya, and it's been 10 years ago!  He is known for this recipe all throughout my home town.

Below are two recipes:  one for beef and sausage jambalaya and one for shrimp or crawfish jambalaya.

BEEF AND SAUSAGE JAMBALAYA (Pictured Above):
Makes 8 cups

Ingredients:
*1 1/2 - 2 lbs. ground beef
*1 lb. Hilshire Beef* Sausage Links, sliced into circles & then halved
*1 teaspoon steak seasoning (I used Adam's)
*1 stick unsalted butter
*1 can beef broth
*1 large yellow onion, chopped
*1 green bell pepper, chopped
*1 bunch green onions, chopped
*3 ribs celery, chopped
*water (1 1/2 cans full using the empty beef broth can)
*2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
*2 Tablespoons Cajun seasoning
*white rice, uncooked (1 1/2 cans full using the empty beef broth can)

Directions:
In a skillet brown ground beef and sausage until ground beef is no longer pink.  (The sausage is already fully cooked, but the juices rendered flavors the ground beef.)  Do not overcook the ground beef since it will cook more with the other ingredients.  Drain.  Set aside.

In a large stock pot, melt butter.  Pour in beef broth.  Add ground beef, sausage, and vegetables.  Fill the beef broth can 1 and 1/2 times with rice.  Pour into the pot.  Fill the beef broth can again 1 and 1/2 times with water.  Add to the pot.  Add Worcestershire sauce.  Add Cajun seasoning.  Stir well.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the bottom does not burn.

*Note:  I used Hilshire Turkey Sausage in this photo to cut down on fat, and it was delicious.

SHRIMP OR CRAWFISH JAMBALAYA (Pictured above):
Makes 8 cups

Ingredients:
*1 1/2 - 2 lbs. raw peeled and deveined shrimp or crawfish tails
*1 teaspoon steak seasoning (I used Adam's)
*1 stick unsalted butter
*1 can chicken broth
*1 large yellow onion, diced
*1 green bell pepper, diced
*3 ribs celery, diced
*water (1 1/2 cans full using the empty chicken broth can)
*2 Tablespoons soy sauce
*2 Tablespoons Cajun seasoning
*white rice, uncooked (1 1/2 cans full using the empty chicken broth can)

Directions:
In a large stock pot, melt butter.  Pour in chicken broth.  Add raw shrimp or crawfish and vegetables.  Fill the chicken broth can 1 and 1/2 times with rice.  Pour into the pot.  Fill the chicken broth can again 1 and 1/2 times with water.  Add to the pot.  Add soy sauce.  Add Cajun seasoning.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the rice doesn't burn on the bottom.

Grilled Cajun Catfish

This takes less than 10 minutes to make.

Recently I went to the store to buy frozen catfish fillets so that I could make Cajun catfish, and I could not find them.  The person at the fish counter told me that there are not a lot of catfish this year, so fresh and frozen catfish cost the same for them to buy.  Therefore, this grocery store chose to only carry fresh.  It was very affordable.  I bought pre-marinated Cajun catfish that they had packaged that morning from HEB.  The fillets were huge, and each fillet really made 2 servings.  There were 2 fillets in the package, so it could feed four. 

I grew up in a small town in southeast Texas, which is about 45 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico as well as from the Louisiana border, so I am picky about my Cajun catfish.  The HEB marinated Cajun catfish passed the test.

Ingredients:
*HEB marinated fresh Cajun catfish fillets from the fish counter
*cooking spray

Directions:
Heat a grill pan over medium heat.  Once hot, spray the pan with cooking spray.  Place the fish on the grill.  Cook for about 4 minutes per side or until fish is easily flaked with a fork.