Jambalaya in Pumpkin Shells

First; Jambalaya is nothing more than using up leftovers in a tasty way and avoiding the waste.  Not just last nights meat loaf but the remainder of the pepper you needed half off on Thursday and the quarter of an onion from the Sunday spaghetti sauce.  On the food shows they always say to save these for stock but seriously how often do you make your own stock?  Jambalaya and stew are much more practical. 

Second; as far as I’m concerned stew and jambalaya have a lot in common and the biggest difference between them is the starch you use.  Jambalaya uses rice, while stew uses potatoes.  Some new cooks may try Niagara, ARGO, Sta-Flow or other laundry products.  You will find these people with their guests and the local Emergency Room.

Third; pumpkins were not in season when I discovered this one so I just made the Jambalaya.  I’m going to try the pumpkin some other time because it sounds real good.

Fourth; you can use any number of base foods in this like shrimp, Andouille sausage, kielbasa, ham, pork, chicken, etc.  You can also use them in different form such as ground or sliced pork.  Let your imagination take you on a trip that your stomach will allow.  I heard a lady from New Orleans once say that there should be three meets/fish or it will be bad luck.

Fifth; I got the original idea from Terri Wuerthner at About.com and I’m sure you can find many others there.

Pull out of the fridge and off the shelves:
6 1lb pumpkins

1/4 cup         oil (I used vegetable, the recipe called for corn)

1 cup            chopped onion

1 cup            chopped celery (don’t like that much celery, try a teaspoon of celery seed or celery salt

1 cup            chopped green bell pepper (I used a half green and a half red pepper)

2 cloves        garlic, minced

2 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes.  (I used something closer to a tomato sauce and didn’t particularly like the results.  The original recipe called for draining the diced tomatoes but I’m not sure about that either.  The liquid could help flavor the rice.)

3 cups           chicken stock (I combined the chicken stock with some beef stock to give it a slight veal flavor)

1 tsp              dried thyme

½ tsp             salt

¼ tsp             black pepper

2 cups           uncooked rice

1 1/2 lb’s      base meet (maybe a pound of shrimp and a ½ lb of sausage and maybe some ground meet.  I used some ground pork from an oriental recipe I made the day before)

½ cup           chopped fresh parsley

Preperation:

A.    Cook the base meets/fish/shell fish.

B.    Put the onions, celery, and bell pepper together for use in step 7

C.    Put the tomatoes, stock and seasoning (thyme, salt, pepper) together for step 9

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350° F.

2.       Cut the top quarter off each pumpkin and put on the side until it is time to serve

3.       Remove the seeds (save them if you wish) and fibers.

4.       Place the pumpkins (not the tops) on a baking sheet with about ½ inch of water in the bottom and bake for 30 minutes.

5.       Remove the pumpkins from the oven and turn them upside down on a rack to drain and cool for 30 minutes.

6.       While the pumpkins are baking heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven.  You can probably also get some of these other things out of the way before the pumpkins are done.

7.       Add the onions, celery, and bell pepper to the oil and cook for 10 minutes.

8.       Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.

9.       Add the tomatoes, stock and seasonings and bring to a rolling boil.

10.     Add the rice.  Stir and reduce the heat to a medium-low then cover.  Cook this for 10 minutes.

{Note: you are now about 25 minutes from the time you put the pumpkins in the oven.  Check your timer and get them out on time before they burn}

11.     Stir the rice and mixture, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for about 25 minutes or until the rice is tender.

12.     Add the cooked meats/fish, stir, cover, and allow to set for 5 minutes to heat up.

13.     Divide the jambalaya evenly into the pumpkin shells and sprinkle each serving with parsley.

14.     Put everything (not the pumpkin lids) into the oven at 350° F for 20 minutes, loosely covered with aluminum foil.

15.     Serve with the tops partially on or on the side, or not in sight.  It is up to you.