Couyon Jumbalaya

When I was about 12 years old, I had dinner at the home of a good friend from school. Her dad was making Jumbalaya, which I’d never heard of.I asked her what it was, and my friend told me that meant her dad was cleaning out the fridge and putting everything in a pot on the stove for dinner. Having never been to the American South, I really though my friend’s dad made up the name because all the leftovers were jumbled together in one pot.

Visiting New Orleans for the first time in my twenties, I was shocked to discover it’s a real dish. I now love Jumbalaya, but I can’t take the spiciness with which most restaurants make it.

This version, I call Couyon after the Creole word for foolish person; it’s like Gringo Chili: lovingly meaning that it’s a non-authentic version that still captures the essential flavors and isn’t too difficult or precise.

In the fashion of Mr. Malek, it often comes out best when you use whatever leftover veggies you have on hand. In the photos, you can see I used peas this time. You can also use thin slices of chicken breast in place of the shrimp. True Louisianans will encourage you to add celery and okra, too.

Couyon Jumbalaya

Ingredients:

3 to 4 Andouille sausages (usually ½ a package)
1 medium onion
1 to 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp parsley
½ tsp thyme
¼ tsp seasoned salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tsp corn starch
1 small green or red pepper, or whatever leftover vegetables you have
1 lb. frozen shrimp – peeled & deveined, without tails (usually ½ a package)

1. Cut the sausage crosswise into ½ in thick coins; slice the onion; and crush, peel, and rough chop the garlic. Sauté all, plus the oil, in a large skillet over medium heat until onions are neatly translucent.

2. Add chicken broth, bring to a low boil, then turn down to simmer.

3. Mix the herbs and spices together in a separate small bowl. Open the can of tomatoes and pour off the juice into a second small bowl and set aside. Add the spices and chunks of tomato to the skillet. And mix in.

4. Whisk the corn starch into the tomato juice, then add to the cooking mixture. Allow to simmer 5 to 10 minutes.

5. Add the vegetables and the shrimp, still frozen, to the mixture and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened, and shrimp are pink, opaque, and cooked through, but not yet firm.

6. Serve over rice, preferably with a side of cornbread (or whatever you have in the fridge.)

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