A Man's Major Food Groups...

...include meat, red, beer and pizza. Forget the pizza and beer. Jambalaya is meat and red. It's spelled Jambalaya, but it's pronounced, "jumba-lie-uh." It's quick, filling and cheap.

Some folks call it "red rice." It is red. It is rice. The folks I know cook it on the stove top, then bake it. Of course, those folks would try to tell you how to improve on a beautiful sunset.

Jambalaya is rice, meat, fruit and vegetables. The meat can be anything, although most often, it's smoked sausage or, if you want to be party-fancy you could add shrimp or oysters to the mixture along with the smoked sausage.

It all starts with rice, of course, cooked in stock.

Now... it behooves me at this point to say that, if you want shrimp in this, boil the shrimp first. Here's how.

Use raw shrimp, still in the shell. Half a pound of "headed" shrimp (you just buy the tails) will feed four to six. Do not let the butcher/grocer steam them.

Get some 'shrimp boil.' Put the shrimp boil in a six quart pot of cold water and bring it to a boil. Don't add salt, no matter what the directions on the shrimp boil might say. Toss the shrimp (shells on) into the boiling water. Let them boil for three minutes, then take the pot off the burner. Then and only then, add two tablespoons of Cajun seasoning. Adding the Cajun seasoning (which is about 50% salt) at the last minute makes it easier to peel the shrimp.

You now have a pot full of shrimp stock. As you peel the shrimp, throw the shells back into the pot and keep it boiling until the shrimp are all peeled.

Peeling shrimp isn't an art, it's a science, and if you've successfully peeled shrimp, you know that. The easy way is to take a pair of kitchen shears, stick the point under the shell just a bit, and start cutting all the way to the tail, then peel the two half-shells off of Mr. Shrimp. If you use kitchen shears, the blade is wide enough to gouge into the back and remove what's called the sand vein - the shrimp's intestine, that black line. Otherwise, take a paring knife and split the back until you see the sand vein, the use the point of the knife to remove it.

Enough about peeling shrimp.

Strain the shrimp shells out of the stock, put the rice in - half a cup of dried rice per person per serving - and cook the rice like usual.

If you don't plan on adding shrimp, use chicken stock to cook the rice.

Along with the rice, add smoked sausage sliced into 1/4" thick round slices; a large onion, a stalk of celery and half a green pepper (or a mild jalapeno), diced, to the boiling stock. By the time the rice is done, the veggies will be, too.

Let the rice rest for a while after it's cooked. The longer, the better. This isn't absolutely necessary, but you can have another glass of that merlot.

Now, we make jambalaya.

Turn the heat back on under the pot of cooked rice, about medium low. Stir in half of a can (or a whole can, if want) of diced tomatos, and half a bottle of ketchup. Cook it covered, stirring occasionally, until most of the ketchup is absorbed by the rice. Add a shot or two of Worcestershire sauce, add a teaspoon of the Cajun seasoning, mix it well and slap it on the table with a nice Zinfandel or, if you're feeling adventurous, an Australian Shiraz.

Me-oh, My-oh, indeed.

Jambalaya is unique among Cajun foods, in that it will freeze well.

Gotta run; mine's boiling over. See ya' around the watercooler.

-Chrissie

Tomorrow: The Cajun Luau.