Mini Pot Jambalaya 101

MINI POT JAMBALAYA 101

In  Crawfish 101 you learned where crawfish come from and how to cook them,

Today let me teach you a little something about 

 Mini Pot Jambalaya.

Its only right that I share what my hometown of Gonzales,Louisiana  is famous for,

they are the Jambalaya Capital of the World

Click above to read more about the festival.

Jambalaya, pronounced Jum-buh-lie-uh,  is a Cajun/Creole dish that is made from a mixture of meats, rice and seasoning.  On any given weekend it is not hard to find a church or neighborhood party cooking up this concoction.

Jambalaya is usually cooked in much larger black iron pots, but this weekend my family decided try out cooking in the mini pots. 

Ok...I completely understand that meat and rice does not sound like that big a deal.

 I'm gonna let you in on a secret from the South.

 The Southern men can usually cook better than the women and they take it very seriously! 

Many cooking secrets are passed down from a paw paw to father then to the son.

 The big deal is not really the food, its all about the prep work and being with family and friends while it cooks and boy did we pass a good time this weekend! 

Camo man brought everyone a mini pot and stand. They are available at most local grocery or hardware stores.  Once you get your little pot, it must be cured or "blackened".

One of our friends let us borrow his little stands that hold the fire. This way the fire is not directly on the ground.

 A closer look at the mini pot and stand.

We gathered little branches.  We had to make sure that we had enough wood to keep  fire going.

Another friend donated scraps of wood from his cabinet shop. 

I believe these are oak.

Everyone had a little bowl of pork and green onion sausage. 

Onions, green onions and bell pepper.

Seasons...everything we had in the cabinet. 

Everyone just added what they wanted.

  These mini pots only take one cup of rice.

Here Britt is getting prepped for her fire.

 They have the fire going.

 (This is not an activity for unsupervised children or men who have been drinking all day)

They  added a little grease to the pot.  When it was hot they added the pork and after a minute or two the sausage.  They cooked it until it was nice and browned.

As the meat fries they would spoon out the grease and pour it on the fire to keep it going.

(We are talking a SMALL amount of grease at a time. 

I can assure you, no one lost their eyebrows .)

 Keep adding wood to keep the fire hot.

Everyone was stirring their little mini pots...

 When the meat is all browned, they added

 onions, green onions and bell pepper.

(My picky child did not add any "green stuff" to his

 Guess what ~ that is fine. 

That's why it's so fun for everyone to have their very own pot)

 Brown the onions down.

Add in one water bottle of water...bring to a boil...maintain the heat...add seasoning at this point.

Then add one cup of rice. 

Don't you love that fancy smancy tool they used to take

the lid on and off?
Cover the pot and remove all the wood from under it ....

Just the coals and  heat of the pot will cook the rice.

I know rice with meat does not sound that great...

but with the added seasonings...YUM

 OK...Like we say here, either someone was starvin

or it was really good!

Could not have a post of the weekend without sharing what Max was doing while we were cooking.

He sat there patiently waiting for someone to take him for a ride.

Is there a special dish that all your family loves to get together and help make?  Do share.

Join me today over at Three Mango Seeds for a really great linky party.