Happy Fat Tuesday!

So today is Mardi Gras, Pancake Day and also World Nutella Day. To celebrate Mardi Gras you could make jambalaya -- below is the recipe I used on Sunday. I will be celebrating pancake day, myself (the one good reason to show up at church). If you are so inclined to celebrate Nutella day, you could make Uncle John's most excellent Nutella Cookies, too, but you'd better hurry up and eat them before Lent starts.

For more Mardi Gras goodness, I suggest you visit Bayou Contessa for pictures and New Orleans Cuisine for recipes.

Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya

1 pound andouille, sliced into rounds
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
5 celery stalks, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup rice
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
seasoning mix*
3 c chicken stock
1 pound peeled shrimp**

*For seasoning mix, combine ¼ tsp cayenne, 1 tsp kosher salt, ¼ tsp thyme, ½ tsp sage, ¼ tsp dried basil, ½ tsp black pepper, and 3 bay leaves.

**best to buy the shrimp on the small side

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

On stovetop, in an ovenproof casserole or dutch oven, cook andouille to render fat. Remove andouille and set aside. Cook onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic in the fat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir, cooking until grains are opaque. Return andouille to pot along with tomatoes and seasoning mix, stirring well to coat everything. Add stock and bring to a boil, then cover and place in oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, add shrimp to casserole, stirring them into mixture below stock line. Continue to bake until rice is done and stock is absorbed (about 15 minutes more). If the rice is done but the stock isn’t fully absorbed, well, there are worse things.