More About Process Than Product

Well, this is unusual, because I'm going to give you a recipe for something that we thought was just so-so. The reason? It was a very clever and fun technique, and I'd love it if someone out there could play with it a bit and get back to me with some ideas to jazz it up. I mean, we ate it all and enjoyed it well enough, but the flavor was ultimately underwhelming. Ready?

Jambalaya "Hobo Packs"

1. Combine ½ lb. sliced andouille or kielbasa (I used turkey kielbasa), ¼ lb. (about 1 cup) shredded rotisserie or other cooked chicken, 1 cup sliced onion, 1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper, ⅔ cup sliced celery, ⅔ cup halved grape tomatoes, and ⅔ cup sliced okra (first time I ever bought okra!) with 2 Tbsp minced garlic, 2 Tbsp olive oil, and 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley; season to taste with salt and pepper:

2. Combine 1 lb. peeled jumbo shrimp with 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp paprika, and ¼ tsp Tabasco; season with salt and pepper. Divy up the sausage-chicken mixture onto four large foil squares, top with the shrimp mixture (should be 3–4 shrimp each), and put ½ Tbsp of cubed cold butter on top of each:

3. Fold over the foil and crimp the edges to make four tight packets:

4. Grill until the packets puff up, about 8–10 minutes. You're really just steaming the veggies and shrimp, since the sausage and chicken are already fully cooked. Let them sit for a couple of minutes and then open carefully, because the steam comes pouring out:

5. Serve over rice, with lemon wedges (not shown):

Neat idea, huh? And it wasn't hard at all. So help me out, willya? What can I do to enhance the flavor?

Comments

[Susan]

Looks pretty good to me. Maybe search out some Jambalaya recipes for hints on other ingredients or spices.

[scott]

Cayenne pepper, paprika, Cholula instead of Tabasco.. and you'll think I'm nuts, but try curry powder.

[Deborah]

I think adding some spiciness to the chicken/sausage mixture would add some jazz to it - either your favorite hot sauce (which I would then use in place of the Tabasco with the shrimp) or some good chili powder. But I just bought some new chipotle chili powder from the spice store, so I'm on kind of a chipotle kick at the moment. :)

[Karen]

You've given me an idea -- maybe some of those yummy chipotles in adobo!

[Susan]

Add cilantro. Ha!

[Karen]

Ha indeed! Or some soap shavings...! ;-)

[Generic_Humanoid]

First, I always go with andouille with jambalaya, it presents the flavor profile I seek from a jambalaya. Second, I wonder if overall the issue is making a maripaux (sp) in a tin foil wrap. Third, I'd jack it up a bit with some spices (someone mentioned chipotle, I would probably go with one half of a chipotle and a teaspoon of the adobo sauce, or a nice chili powder mix). Last, I might consider making a small roux (like say a teaspoon of it) and coating the ingredients with it, then putting everything in the tinfoil and then adding the wet stuff.

Overall, I like the recipe as it sounds like it has merit, and I love tinfoil cooking over the grill or fire (less cleanup).

[Karen]

Those are all good suggestions, thanks. Oh, and it's mirepoix. :-) Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!

[Mir]

I read this in Bloglines and made Otto come read it, too, so that we could give you some suggestions... and then I came to the actual page with comments and saw that everyone already said what we were going to say. ;)

First and foremost, it's gotta be andouille. Then I was leaning towards chili powder/adobo but now I'm thinking chipotle might be yummy!

[Karen]

Andy isn't nuts about andouille, so that's why I went with the alternative in this case. The kielbasa was actually very tasty; the overall dish just didn't work somehow.

[Janeen]

I think it has to do with the fact that you steam the veggies rather than saute them, for one. You are just throwing everything togther into a pouch without giving the flavors any way to meld together like in a soup pot (or saute pan). And good, traditional gumbo would use a homemade stock. I don't think that even spicing it up can save this recipe as it's the technique itself (which would be great for other dishes) that doesn't work.

[Janeen]

Sorry, that should be "together." Though I kind of like "togther," it has a nice caveman sound to it.

[Karen]

I think jambalaya is meant to be more of a stew than gumbo, which is more of a soup (but what do I know)? I thought that the wet rub for the shrimp plus the butter melting on top would do the trick for flavor, but apparently not.

[Janeen]

My brain is so jumbled from my crazy work-the-festival all weekend experience and concurrent lack of sleep that it turned "jambalaya" into "gumbo" without me even realizing it. I still stand by the "saute the veggies first" idea, though. Think how the flavor of a bell pepper changes when you cook it in some hot olive oil, how it sweetens and mellows. Steaming doesn't do that.

[James]

Take it in more of a Shrimp Mozambique direction?

A little bit of a hoppy beer, parsley, lemon, Goya Sazon con Azafran (the one with the shrimp on the box)... should do the trick nicely.

Check out a shrimp Mozambique recipe to get the idea, though I imagine you're probably already familiar with the dish.