When we rolled out to Austin for our annual Louisiana gumbo pop up, one of our cooks gifted us with a plump, freshly-smoked Texas turkey breast. We flew that big thing back to New Orleans and made club sandwiches out of it for a few days before we had a eureka moment.

Time to make a fat pot of smoked turkey jambalaya.

We rummaged around in the freezer and found a log of andouille sausage that we bought out in St John the Baptist Parish a few months ago then dropped to our knees to root through the fridge for celery, green onions, jalapenos, and master stock.

Whooeee, this is gonna be good.

Harry Choates on the hi fi completed the picture.

A recipe for smoked turkey jambalaya with Saint John the Baptist Andouille

Ingredients

1/4 lb, smoked turkey breast meat, chopped

1/4 lb sausage, andouille, chopped

6 each chiles, jalapenos, chopped (bells or poblanos will work too)

2 each, ribs, celery, chopped

4 each, onions, green, chopped

1 c. rice (medium grain, please source from Acadiana or use other good brand)

2 c. stock, pork or chicken

1 T. worcestershire (Cajun Power brand is the finest we’ve sourced)

salt

Method

Saute’ turkey, green onions, celery, sausage and chiles in hot bacon fat for 10 minutes in heavy bottom two quart sauce pan

Add stock and worcestershire and bring to boil

Slowly sprinkle rice into boiling stock

Place lid on sauce pan, reduce heat, cook 20 minutes, cut heat, let rest 10 minutes

Turn jambalaya out of pan into large bowl

Fluff with two forks, serve immediately

Garnish with finely chopped green onions, a little good salt and your favorite hot sauce

Cooking notes:

We used to go to the World Jambalaya Championship in Gonzales every year til we finally bested the abilities of the masters with our own recipe(s)

If you heed this formula it will provide the best jambalaya you have ever eaten.

Don’t like turkey? Substitute chicken

We also make a version with crawfish and pork sausage.

This is a one dish meal but if we were going to have a side it would be slow-cooked black eyed peas

You can make a respectable jambalaya using Maggi but if you really want a world-beating pot you’ll need to make your stock from scratch link