Jambalaya with Shrimp and Ham NOT HAM (CEiMB)

I am a notorious hater of ham. I know, I know...most people love ham. Not me. No way. No siree Bob. It is too pink, and slimy, and sweetish, and overly hammy....YUCK!!!! I just hate it. There is no convincing me otherwise. It is ironic that I will eat almost all other types of pork product. Not to mention, my deep and affectionate love of prosciutto de Parma.

(Don't bother to point out that prosciutto IS ham. I delude myself into thinking that prosciutto is a magical element all onto itself and not --cringe-- ham.)

The standard American ham is just not my friend. It does not make sense to a lot of people, but what can I tell ya...I am a question mark of a person sometimes.

When this jambalaya recipe popped up on my Craving Ellie in My Belly group it sounded really good...except for the...you know...ahem... --gag-- ham. I decided to give it a try and just substitute something else for my porcine nemesis. So, playing the part of slimy, disgusting, wretched --hiss-- ham will be a nice, non-threatening,well-mannered, spicy beef smoked sausage instead.

Trust me, it is just better that way.

Jambalaya with Shrimp and Ham NOT HAM
Adapted from: Ellie Krieger (2007)
CEiMB hosted by: Anonymous New York

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more, to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more, to taste
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
6 ounces diced, smoked ham BEEF sausage
2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can no-salt added diced tomatoes
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
Hot pepper sauce
Creole seasoning to taste (optional)

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over a medium heat. Add the onion, peppers and garlic and saute until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Mix in the next 11 ingredients, salt through the diced tomatoes. Add Creole seasoning to taste. Bring to a boil. Stir in the rice, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until rice is done and most of the liquid is absorbed. Add the shrimp and cook, covered, for 5 minutes more, or until shrimp is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with hot pepper sauce.





The Result:
This is probably my favorite CEiMB meal recipe so far. This was really, really good!!! Some of the reviews on the Food Network website indicated that this dish was bland, so I adjusted it accordingly. I did not follow the quantity of spices and just did my own thing, but I stuck to the ingredients list. I pretty much took all the spice quantities and doubled them. Then, I just salted as I cooked so the whole dish would be properly seasoned. Yum. Also, I did not cook the rice in the jambalaya itself. I was afraid it would get all weird and gummy, and I just didn't want to take the chance of screwing the whole thing up. Instead I cooked it separately, then mounded it on top once in the serving dish. Whatever I did worked out perfectly, since this dish turned out spicy and delicious!!!

(Oh, and in case you are wondering...the beef hot links turned out to be a great substitution, which proves my point that --ick-- ham is totally vile and unnecessary.)

I will definitely make this recipe again. Great pick!!!