The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (159 page)

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Done right, jambalaya is a one-pot meal with a standout combination of sweetness, spice, and smoke, but when poorly executed, it’s a thin-flavored imposter with gummy rice, overcooked shrimp, and tough, dry chicken. To keep the chicken moist, we skipped the white meat and used just chicken thighs. We stuck with classic andouille sausage, which contributed spice and smoke. A food processor made short work of chopping the bell pepper, onion, celery and garlic, and the small, even pieces sautéed more quickly than when hand-chopped. Simmering the rice in a combination of chicken broth, clam juice, and tomato juice boosted its flavor, and reducing the amount of liquid kept it from being gummy and heavy. Adding the raw shrimp to the pot just five minutes before the rice was finished left them perfectly tender. Our finished jambalaya was smoky and sweet, spicy and savory, with each element perfectly cooked.

SERVES 4 TO 6

If you cannot find andouille sausage, either chorizo or linguiça can be substituted. For a spicier jambalaya, you can add ¹⁄
₄
teaspoon of cayenne pepper along with the vegetables, and/or serve it with hot sauce.

1.
Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place chicken thighs skin side down in pot and cook until well browned, 6 to 8 minutes, reducing heat if pan begins to scorch. Flip chicken skin side up and continue to cook until lightly browned on second side, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate and remove and discard skin. Tent loosely with aluminum foil.

2.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot, add sausage, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until browned, about 3 minutes. Remove sausage with slotted spoon and transfer to paper towel–lined plate.

3.
Heat fat left in pot over medium-low heat until shimmering. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits, until vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. Add rice, 1 teaspoon salt, thyme, and cayenne and cook, stirring often, until rice is coated with fat, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes with reserved juice, chicken broth, clam juice, bay leaves, and browned sausage.

4.
Place chicken, skinned side down, on rice and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir once, keeping chicken on top with skinned side down. Cover and continue to simmer until chicken is tender and cooked through, about 10 minutes longer; transfer chicken to clean plate and set aside. Scatter shrimp over rice, cover, and continue to cook until rice is fully tender and shrimp are opaque and cooked through, about 5 minutes.

5.
While shrimp are cooking, use 2 forks to shred chicken into bite-size pieces. When shrimp are cooked, discard bay leaves. Off heat, stir in parsley and shredded chicken and serve immediately.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

We wanted a chicken pot pie with moist meat, flavorful vegetables, great gravy, and a crisp crust. To get there, we poached chicken breasts (or thighs) in chicken broth for added flavor and then shredded the meat before adding it to the pie. We then used the reserved chicken broth as the base of our sauce—we enriched the sauce with milk, thickened it with flour, and added sherry for complexity. Sautéing the vegetables before baking them in the pie helped them retain their color and flavor. We skipped the double crust and instead opted to roll a simple pie dough over the top of the pie, where it baked up crisp and buttery.

See “ARRANGING DOUGH ON A POT PIE” illustrations that follow recipe.

SERVES 6

Mushrooms can be sautéed along with the celery and carrots, and blanched pearl onions can stand in for the onion.

POT PIE DOUGH

FILLING

1. FOR THE PIE DOUGH:
Process flour and salt in food processor until combined. Scatter shortening over top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 10 pulses. Scatter butter pieces over top and pulse mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses; transfer to large bowl.

2.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons ice water over flour mixture. Stir and press dough together, using stiff rubber spatula, until dough sticks together. If dough does not come together, stir in remaining 1 tablespoon water.

3.
Turn dough onto sheet of plastic wrap and flatten into 4-inch disk. Wrap dough tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Before rolling out dough, let it sit on counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes.

4. FOR THE FILLING:
Bring chicken and broth to simmer in covered Dutch oven and cook until chicken is tender and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to large bowl. Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer into liquid measuring cup and reserve. Do not wash pot. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees.

5.
Heat oil in now-empty pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, carrots, celery, ¹⁄
₄
teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄
₄
teaspoon pepper and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. While vegetables are cooking, use 2 forks to shred chicken into bite-size pieces. Transfer vegetables to bowl with chicken; set aside.

6.
Melt butter in again-empty pot over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in reserved chicken broth, milk, any accumulated chicken juices, and thyme. Bring to simmer and cook until sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in chicken-vegetable mixture, peas, sherry, and parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

7.
Pour chicken mixture into 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Roll dough out to 15 by 11-inch rectangle, about ¹⁄
₈
inch thick, on lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it over filling. Trim, fold, and crimp edges, and cut 4 vent holes in top.

8.
Place pot pie on aluminum foil–lined rimmed baking sheet and bake until filling is bubbling on sides and crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

TO MAKE AHEAD:
Dough can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let dough thaw completely in refrigerator before rolling out. Chicken filling can be cooled and refrigerated overnight. Reheat filling before transferring to baking dish and proceeding with recipe.