Dinner: New Orleans Style

Being from the souther US, I know a little bit about soul food. It was everywhere growing up. It's comforting and filling. Small diners that serve soul food are something special. It's like walking into someone's house with the greetings from everyone, the aroma of the food makes you hungry immediately, and you always leave full and happy. I am a firm believer that New Orleans style food is soul food as well. It's different from the soul food I grew up with but it's still soul food. This would explain why I was excited to receive a cook book dedicated to New Orleans style food.

This cookbook is so much fun and there are so many yummy recipes, not to mention so fantastic facts and stories about the food and traditions in New Orleans. I want to try so many recipes in this book but I found two that I would try tonight. I made an eggplant jambalaya and cornbread. Because I'm just this way, I tweaked a few things in both recipes. I was totally pleased with the dinner and my husband loved it, too. Tonight I'm going to share the jambalaya recipe with you. I hope you like it :)

Eggplant Jambalaya
Adapted from 'New Orleans' cookbook from Williams Sonoma
Serves 4 as a main

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
100g smoked ham, diced
3/4 cup chopped spring onions
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small eggplant, cut into 1" pieces
1/2 teaspoon oregano, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon thyme, minced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 14oz can diced tomatoes with juices
1 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
a couple of splashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)
1 cup rice
salt and pepper

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet on medium high heat. Add the olive oil.

Dice all of the vegetables. I waited to dice the eggplant until the last minute because eggplant turns brown very quickly.

Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and smoked ham to the skillet. Cook on medium heat until the vegetables are soft, about 10-15 minutes.

The vegetables should become soft they will be slightly browned.

Add the rest of the ingredients, reserving 1/4 cup of chopped spring onions for garnish. Season the dish with salt and pepper.

Combine everything thoroughly. The eggplant looks large now, but they will reduce in size quite a bit. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring everything to a boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat to low immediately and cover. Continue cooking on low heat for 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked completely.

While the jambalaya was cooking, I made my cornbread.

After cooking, move the jambalaya to a bowl, season again with salt and pepper (if necessary) and garnish with the remaining spring onions.

This was so tasty, with a little bit of heat and it was unbelievably easy to make. I love one dish meals like this because there is less cleaning up to do. This is also the perfect kind of meal to bring in one big bowl to the table so everyone can share and help themselves.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you get a chance, enjoy some soul food... whatever kind of food that means to you!

Happy Eating!