Pork Jambalaya

Ingredients

• 4 T peanut or canola oil (divided)
• 3/4 lb andouille sausage, sliced into about 1/2″ slices (kielbasa or Spanish chorizo may be substituted)
• 1 T butter
• 1 lb pork, cut into about 1″ pieces (I like to use pork shoulder, but any pork will do)
• 3/4 tsp salt (if you’re using ham, go light on the salt)
• 1 c green and/or red bell pepper, diced (about 1 large one)
• 1 c onion, diced (1 small onion)
• 1 c celery, diced (about 4 stalks)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning – or another Creole/Cajun seasoning, if you have one.  You might substitute some chili powder, if you can’t get Cajun seasoning.  We often use Gebhardt’s when we’re needing chili (not chile) powder.
• Tabasco sauce (a few dashes of it)
• 2 c of long grain white rice (we chose not to rinse it first….hard to know)
• 4 c chicken broth, homemade, if you’ve got it

Heat 2 T of the oil in an oven-worthy deep pan (cast iron is great; Staub or Le Creuset work well too) to medium to medium-high heat.  Add the sausage and saute until it’s lightly browned and the fat has been rendered.  Drain off the accumulated fat; remove the andouille from the pan.  Add the remaining oil and the 1 T butter and bring the pan back up to medium high heat.  Add the pork, sprinkle with salt, and fry, stirring occasionally, until it’s beginning to brown.  Add the bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic and all of the seasonings and continue cooking over medium heat until the vegetables are soft.

Add the sausage, rice and chicken broth to the mixture and bring it all to a boil.  Put the lid on the pan and place the pan in the pre-heated oven.  Bake – without taking off the lid – for 30 minutes, then check.  If the rice has not yet absorbed all the liquid, put it back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.  Then remove the pan from the oven and very, very gently lift and mix the jambalaya, just to fluff.  Replace the lid and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.