BWCA Slow Cooker Jambalaya Boundary Waters BWCA Food and Recipes
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Chicagored
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05/02/2014 07:59AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I decided to make a big pot of jambalaya to bring to the potluck in Rockford this weekend, and to have enough to dehydrate a meal for 7 for a canoe trip. I looked at Ripple's recipe and changed it a little and slow cooked it in the oven overnight. Turned out delicious. I made it only mildly spicy for the crowd, Feel free to add cayenne or serve with hot sauce.

notes: I thought the chicken was dry, so I took the chicken out and shredded it and put it back in, which made it much better, and easier to dehydrate. My wife tells me that if I had used cubes of chicken thighs, the chicken would not have tasted dry. Another alternative would have been to add the chicken only for the last 2 or 3 hours. For the batch I was dehydrating, I also shredded the sausage.

Jambalaya by Red:

5 lbs chicken, shredded.
4 slices quality bacon, chopped
3 tablespoons rendered chicken fat (schmaltz to my Jewish brothers)
or cooking oil
2 large onions, diced
1 to 2 cups diced celery
2 large cans of diced tomatoes
1 diced poblano pepper (mildly hot - substitute can of diced chilis or
any other hot pepper of your choice)
2 or more diced peppers, green or other colors
2 20 oz packages of spicy Italian sausage, sliced or shredded for
easier dehydrating
1 large box of chicken broth
2 pounds cooked shrimp (I cut into smaller pieces)
3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt (optional - I did not use)
2 - 4 tablespoons garlic
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons onion powder
1/4 to 1/2 tablespoons cayenne pepper (optional - I did not use)
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 teaspoon file powder

brown rice

I use a large cast aluminum covered roasting pan instead of a slow cooker.

Preheat oven to 220 degrees.

Put the pan on the stove over medium heat and add the bacon and the chicken fat or oil. After a few minutes, add the onions, celery, peppers, and sausage. Saute until onions are translucent. Throw in everything else except the shrimp and the rice. Add water until it looks right. Place in oven for 7 or eight hours. Add shrimp and cook 1/2 hour.

Cook the rice, and either add to pot for last 1/2 hour or serve over rice.

This made 33 one cup servings, not including the rice.
 
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OBX2Kayak
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05/02/2014 10:10AM  
Mmmm, hum! I can just smell that cooking now. Sounds delicious.
 
OldFingers57
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05/02/2014 11:52AM  
Sounds yummy! Can't wait to try it out tommorrow night at the Wingnite
 
05/05/2014 08:54AM  
This sounds great - I love southern food! I'm curious, do the fats cause any problem in dehydrating?
 
OldFingers57
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05/05/2014 10:25AM  
Chicagored had it at the Rockford wing night and it was great. Thanks for coming and for the recipe.
 
Chicagored
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05/05/2014 05:40PM  
quote Jaywalker: "This sounds great - I love southern food! I'm curious, do the fats cause any problem in dehydrating? "



Not enough fat to cause a problem. I stir in about 1/2 cup cooked rice for each 1 cup portion before I dehydrate it and that spreads the fat pretty thin. Also, there are no lumps of fat to cause problems. I freeze my dehydrated stuff until I go, and I have brought a slightly different version of this on a 10 day trip, we ate it on day 7 with no problems.
 
OBX2Kayak
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05/05/2014 07:01PM  
Do you include the shrimp when dehydrating? Every time I've dehydrated/re-hydrated shrimp it has the consistency of old pencil erasers.
 
Chicagored
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05/06/2014 03:06PM  
quote OBX2Kayak: "Do you include the shrimp when dehydrating? Every time I've dehydrated/re-hydrated shrimp it has the consistency of old pencil erasers. "


I have not had that problem. I usually cut up the shrimp into pretty small pieces. Three possible solutions: (i) use hot water to rehydrate about an hour before you plan on eating, let sit and then reheat to eat; (ii) leave out the shrimp (especially since its god awful expensive these days) and hopefully add some fresh caught walleye instead when rehydrated; or (iii) right after you finish dehydrating, put in freezer for about 45 minutes, then grind in food processor. I do this for soups. You will end up with mush instead of identifiable food, but it will taste as good and rehydrate much more evenly.
 
OBX2Kayak
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05/06/2014 04:07PM  
quote Chicagored: "
quote OBX2Kayak: "Do you include the shrimp when dehydrating? Every time I've dehydrated/re-hydrated shrimp it has the consistency of old pencil erasers. "



I have not had that problem. I usually cut up the shrimp into pretty small pieces. Three possible solutions: (i) use hot water to rehydrate about an hour before you plan on eating, let sit and then reheat to eat; (ii) leave out the shrimp (especially since its god awful expensive these days) and hopefully add some fresh caught walleye instead when rehydrated; or (iii) right after you finish dehydrating, put in freezer for about 45 minutes, then grind in food processor. I do this for soups. You will end up with mush instead of identifiable food, but it will taste as good and rehydrate much more evenly."


Thanks for the tips. I get my shrimp free from the Pamlico Sound, so I'm determined to find a way to dehydrate them.
 
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