Jambalaya for Mardi Gras

History:

This is the 18th year in a row that my family has had a Mardi Gras party. Like any good Irish/Spanish Roman Catholic we take our Fat Tuesday seriously. Many of those years we have made jambalaya. And we do go a bit crazy sometimes with the tasso, gator meat, and other New Orleans specials. So here is the basic

Recipe: [I am going a bit more traditional with this]

>5 Cups chicken stock [Easy to make by boiling the chicken you need for this the night before]

Dark Roux [ie flour and fat]

Salt

Butter

Onions

Bell Pepper

Celery

Garlic

Creole Seasoning [salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, celery salt]

Tasso/Ham

Crushed Tomatoes

Tomato Paste

Pork [Sausage]

Chicken

Rice

Made Roux. [Butter/Oil and Flour.... cook until til you can smell and it is dark; the more you have the more thickening power to you]. Add a hint of stock for flavor; get the rest of the stock into a boil. To the roux add onion, celery, garlic, green pepper, Creole. Saute til mostly cooked, then add tasso/Ham. Keep saute-ing, then add tomatoes. Bring to bubble add paste. Add boiling chicken stock. Add enough for however much rice you want. IE 2 cups stock to 1 cup rice. Take for seasoning, should be a little too salty. Add pork, then chicken. Once boiling again, add rice stir, and cover on low.