Nigerian Jollof Rice and Southern Cajun Jambalaya Fusion

Note to self: The other day I was having major Moudi withdrawals because he had been working so much. He works at an army base at Fort Gordon and has the dreaded night shift. :'( It’s kinda hard for me to get used to. Every time I think I’m getting the hang of it there are days where I’m an insomniac and can’t get to sleep until he’s home or after fajr when I pass out from exhaustion. Usually I end up cleaning or organizing or coming up with recipes during that time. It’s the only time my OCD has free reign and I go overboard. I ended up folding grocery bags one night just because the bags inside bags were bothering me so much. On a side note, I found an amazing way to keep them all organized into a neat storage box under the sink. A pretty neat Pinterest hack if I may say so myself.

Screen Shot 2017-11-13 at 3.14.07 PM — http://themetapicture.com/how-to-fold-a-grocery-bag-for-space-saving/

Anyways, so Moudi has this coworker who’s super nice and sweet and she mentioned how she loves rice, especially spicy rice so this recipe was born. I intended to make it so Moudi could take some to work with him for her but it was so good we ended up eating it all. ‘oops’ #OurBad #GreedyMuch? Well I guess it just means that I’ll have to make it again or come up with another variation one day! Not that I’m complaining, totally works out for me! 🙂

Ingredients:

½ lb chicken breasts
3 hot dogs, sliced into coins (you can also substitute for sausage)
5 Roma tomatoes (divided)
2 red bell peppers
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp ginger puree
2 small onions (divided)
1 scotch bonnet pepper
3 stalks celery, diced
½ cup diced orange bell pepper
1 tsp thyme
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp cajun seasoning
1 bay leaf
3 cups chicken stock
1½ cups of white rice

Directions:

In a blender add 5 Roma tomatoes, 2 red bell peppers, 2 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tsp ginger puree, 1 small onion, 1 scotch bonnet pepper and blend until pureed.
Place puree into a large sauce pan over medium high heat, cover and let it cook until it’s reduced by half and most of the water is evaporated (it’ll become a thick puree, almost paste like)
In the mean time in a large pot heat 2 tbsp of oil over medium heat and add 1 small onion, 3 stalks diced celery, ½ cup diced orange bell pepper and sauté for ~5 min.
Add hot dogs and chicken and cook until chicken is no longer pink.
Add 1 tsp thyme, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, 2 tbsp cajun seasoning, 1 bay leaf and coat well.
Add the cooked down tomato/pepper puree, 3 cups of chicken stock, 1½ cups of white rice and mix well.
Turn heat to medium low, cover and let it cook for 25-30 minutes or until the rice is cooked. (Mine took around 45 minutes)
Add one sliced roma tomato, cover and let the steam cook and wilt the tomato.