Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file’ gumbo
‘Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou

Hank Williams

Jambalaya; music to my ears. The mere mention takes me back to New Orleans in the spring of 1984, alone near the end of a long line waiting for a table at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen. A woman came back the line asking, “Any singles?” When I shouted and raised my hand, she took me right inside and sat me with a dentist and his wife and son. They were in town from San Diego for a dentist convention. At K Paul’s in those days, no seat was left unfilled. Christmas brought me Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen, from good friends and neighbors, Robert and Katy. It’s a cookbook I use to this day.

Paul Prudhomme started nearly every dish with a seasoning mix of bay leaf, salt, cayenne pepper, dried oregano, white pepper, black pepper and dried thyme. He continued with the Cajun triumvirate of chopped onions, chopped celery and chopped green bell pepper. Then he gets on with what names the dish, be it gumbo, meatloaf, etouffee, or jambalaya. Shrimp Jambalaya. His dishes are deep with flavor and rich with spice, and nearly always include white rice. And yes, he made liberal use of animal fat.

In subsequent years, animal fat, the lifeblood and flavor catalyst of Prudhomme’s cooking, was declared “bad for you,” by the Nutritionist food Nazis, and even Prudhomme capitulated by writing another cookbook in 1994 called Fork in the Road, A Different Direction in Cooking from America’s Favorite Chef. The only Jambalaya that made the cut was Turkey Jambalaya. It had the spices, to be sure, but it lacked the soul. In addition to turkey breast and low fat dairy products, the recipe calls for Turkey Tasso and Turkey Andouille. Does anyone even make that stuff? He acknowledges as much in a note, by offering smoked turkey substitutes. Though I tried Fork in the Road a couple times, my copy is pristine, no notes, no marks, no spills, no flavor, only the top is dusty from sitting forlornly on the shelf. In contrast, Louisiana Kitchen is marked and stained to a fairthewell and the spine is broken from overuse.

Here in ought eight, Mark Bittman, the self proclaimed “Minimalist” of the New York Times, doesn’t do 22 ingredient recipes. But he does do inventive takes on classic foods. In this case, he invented a way to cook brown rice in two steps, resulting in quicker and more accurate cooking for the home cook. There’s an organic brown rice farmer at the Farmers Market and I have used brown rice, but I could never get it right, so I gave up. Now, I have a new bag and a new outlook on cooking brown rice.

Bittman illustrates the ease of brown rice cooking with a recipe for Shrimp Jambalaya. I made this dish, and it is good. The brown rice, properly cooked, brings a nutty, chewy flavor to the party. Not only that, it’s good for you. Maybe I’ll do a Louisiana Kitchen dish using brown rice.

Shrimp Jambalaya
Adapted from Mark Bittman, The New York Times

Time: About 1 hour

HALF recipe Yield: 3 to 4 servings.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced bell pepper, preferably red or yellow
2 ounces chopped ham (optional)
Salt and black pepper3/4 to 1 cup parboiled long-grain brown rice (see recipe)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
Several sprigs fresh thyme

1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (canned are fine; drain first)
1 1/2 to 2 cups shrimp stock, other stock or water
1 pound shrimp, peeled (and deveined, if you like) and cut into pieces if very large
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves or sliced scallions (or both), for garnish.

1. Put olive oil in a medium casserole over medium heat. Add onions, bell pepper and ham, if using. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and everything begins to brown, about 10 minutes.

2. Add rice, garlic, cayenne and thyme, and stir for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until tomatoes begin to break up.

3. Stir in stock. Bring to a boil, turn heat to medium and cook, uncovered, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender, adding liquid if necessary. Rice should be tender, not soupy.

4. Add shrimp and stir with a fork. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, then cover and let rest for 10 to 20 minutes. Garnish as you like and serve.

Parboiled Brown Rice
Mark Bittman, The New York Times, 2.08
Time: 20 minutes Yield: 1 1/2 to 2 cups.

1 tablespoon salt
1 cup long- or short-grain brown rice.

In a large pot, bring to a boil 2 to 3 cups of water and the salt. Add rice and boil for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain. Refrigerate if it will be more than a couple of hours before you use it.

FULL recipe Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups diced onions
2 cups diced bell pepper, preferably red or yellow
1/2 cup chopped ham (optional)
Salt and black pepper1 1/2 to 2 cups parboiled long-grain brown rice (see recipe)
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
Several sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (canned are fine; drain first)
3 to 4 cups shrimp stock, other stock or water
2 pounds shrimp, peeled (and deveined, if you like) and cut into pieces if very large
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves or sliced scallions (or both), for garnish.