What can you put over rice?

[Mich-delish]

I really like southern cooking!

I live in northern Michigan and during childhood I grew up with a foster family who was from the south, A completely different culture than my own. Although I was of a different race, they embraced me with the purest love I have ever had, mix that with family, and FOOD ( some of the best foods I have ever tasted in my life,) and you have life long bonds made in heaven.

They taught me a lot about cooking, foods I have never heard of before that today I cannot live without. My family at the holidays likes to come together and we each bring our contributions to dinner. That way we get a little love from all. Food is one of the best ways to bring family together. (That and we like to "roast" each others' cooking skills)

Jambalaya is a favorite of mine, and it's a dish I have chosen to prepare from scratch at my apartment to bring over for Christmas dinner. My mama will be tasting my cooking for the first time, (she taught me all of the cooking I know,)

I don't have polish sausage, can I substitute bratwurst? Any ad-"rice" about jambalaya you can can lend would be wonderful.

Thanks and happy holidays from my family to yours!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Hi Mich, and welcome to DC. If you want a right proper smoked sausage for your jambalaya, you need to hunt down andouille sausage. It has the right Cajun flavor to make the dish authentic. Aidells is probably the premier brand for grocery store sausage, but I've even used the local equivalent of Johnsonville and have been pleased with the results. I would not use bratwurst, since the flavor profile isn't anywhere near what you would have with a smoked sausage. Smoked kielbasa would be the only non-andouille sausage I would use for a substitute. If my only sausage choice was bratwurst, I'd probably make the jambalaya with only chicken and shrimp in that case. Heretical, I know!

Just so long as you make it with love, I'm sure your family will enjoy it. Happy Holidays to you and yours, too.

 

[CraigC]

We make our own andouille sausage, but there is a product found in with the other packaged ready to eat sausages called "Raggin Cajun" that is a pretty good sub for andouille. Cajun and Creole cuisines serve many dishes made with rice or served with rice. Gumbos, red beans and rice and etouffee come to mind off the top of my head. Tasso is often used in place of andouille for jambalaya. I made chicken and andouille sausage jambalaya for Sunday supper. BTW you can order andouille and tasso online.

 

[Andy M.]

I usually make Creole sauce to go with it. Any proteins will do. Chicken, shrimp, sausage, ham etc.

 

[strmanglr scott]

Welcome to a fellow Michigan person.

You can use the brats. You're not gonna get the full jambalaya taste but it won't be bad at all. I've done similar recipes.

 

[skilletlicker]

I can't know what's in Michigan Grocery Stores but the Krogers around here sell Country Pleasin' Brand Andouille and I use quite a bit of that. You got my permission to use any sausage you want but be sure you know whether any recipe you're looking at is referring to a raw or smoked product. All the Andouille I've seen are smoked and fully cooked. Brats are usually raw.

 

[roadfix]

My favorite thing to put over rice is any kind of curry.

 

[Bama-Rick]

Jambalaya is wonderful stuff, like the others said try to find andouille or tusso sauage. Polish sauage won't cut it, in a pinch if you can find a spicy polish sauage maybe that would work. Also use parboiled rice and if you can find it tony chacahere seasoning use it.

Parboiled rice helps elevate the problem of your rice getting gooey in the cooking process.

 

[Linda0818]

Creamed chicken. Yummy stuff.

 

[pepperhead212]

Welcome to the forum!

I love jambalaya - when I started my "Blue Book", notebook of favorite recipes (way back, in the early 80s), and jambalaya was the first one I put in it!

Back in my early cookbooks - from the 70s, but some even older - that had jambalaya recipes, had ham as their meat, and this is where the name came from - the French jambón. This is probably why your family used a Polish sausage - the smoked sausage probably made a good substitute for diced up ham. My family always saved the leftover ham on holidays, for me to make jambalaya with. The andouille sausage was not available all over the country back then, but it has gotten so popular now, it's found almost everywhere. I'm sure whatever meat you use, it will be good!

 

[jabbur]

I use Hillshire Farms Smoked sausage or their smoked keilbasa in my jambalya. They work well for my family who doesn't like really spicy foods.

 

[strmanglr scott]

Creamed chicken. Yummy stuff.

Yes, I remember Dad making fried chix and gravy. Leftovers were shredded chix in the gravy over rice. It's been decades and I can taste it right now. Yum.

As to the title of the thread...
What isn't good over rice might be a question with fewer answers.

I can't eat rice by itself, even fried rice. Rice is a blank canvas, it needs something with it imo.

Good meal...
Rice
A sauce
Some kind of food

No need to be more complicated.

Last thing I did w rice.

La Preferida Mexican rice
Bratwurst
Bbq sauce
Hot sauce

When rice is at boil, add in chopped cooked brats off the grill, touch of bbq sauce, hot sauce to taste. Turn off heat and cover and wait for rice to be done.

Nice side dish. Could easily tweek it and turn it into something more.

 

[Linda0818]

Yes, I remember Dad making fried chix and gravy. Leftovers were shredded chix in the gravy over rice. It's been decades and I can taste it right now. Yum.

As to the title of the thread...
What isn't good over rice might be a question with fewer answers.

I can't eat rice by itself, even fried rice. Rice is a blank canvas, it needs something with it imo.

Good meal...
Rice
A sauce
Some kind of food

No need to be more complicated.

Last thing I did w rice.

La Preferida Mexican rice
Bratwurst
Bbq sauce
Hot sauce

When rice is at boil, add in chopped cooked brats off the grill, touch of bbq sauce, hot sauce to taste. Turn off heat and cover and wait for rice to be done.

Nice side dish. Could easily tweek it and turn it into something more.

Yes, just like that.

Another thing that's good over rice that's similar to the chicken and gravy is a nice Chicken a la King. Comfort food at its best.

 

[GotGarlic]

Yes, just like that.

Another thing that's good over rice that's similar to the chicken and gravy is a nice Chicken a la King. Comfort food at its best.

I make chicken á la king every year with leftover Thanksgiving turkey

 

[Linda0818]

I make chicken á la king every year with leftover Thanksgiving turkey

Excellent way to use up the leftovers

 

[Just Cooking]

And then there is Christmas morning breakfast..

Our local Kringle bakery offers a package deal..

Kringle of choice.
Tea cake of choice.
Fruit pie of choice.
A dozen yeast dinner rolls.
All for $25

I pick up our bundle on Christmas eve..

Ross

 

[GotGarlic]

You serve this over rice?

 

[Just Cooking]

You serve this over rice?

oops.... wrong thread...

Ross

 

[Paellator]

Never heard about Jambalaya and I just added it to my "to try list"

 

[strmanglr scott]

Never heard about Jambalaya and I just added it to my "to try list"

whaaat? Ok, you are from Madrid. You are in for a treat. It's tasty.