A few notes about this wonderful recipe. It makes a lot! This batch easily serves 12. Now, when Becca makes it, she usually scales it by 3x, making enough for over 30 people, which means there’s always plenty to send home with folks, and plenty for leftovers. Becca uses Tony Cachere’s seasoning in her jambalaya, which is a standard seasoning in that part of the country. You can buy it online, or look for a recipe online to approximate the herbs and spices in it. After chopping up all the vegetables, de-shelling the shrimp takes a bunch of time because you want to make sure to get all of the shell pieces out. As you de-shell the shrimp, place the shrimp in a bowl of cold water. When you are done de-shelling, strain the water from the shrimp and put the shrimp in the refrigerator to stay cold. You will not add the shrimp to the jambalaya until the last 2 minutes of making this dish. As you finish each batch, pour out the sausage and whatever fat has been released into a large stockpot. The size of the stockpot depends on how much jambalaya you are making. For a this batch, I would use an 8-Qt stockpot. Add Uncle Ben’s long grain rice and 2 1/4 cups of chicken broth for every cup of rice used. Add onions, bell peppers, and celery. Slowly bring mixture to a simmer, on MEDIUM heat. This is slow cooking. You want it on medium to prevent the jambalaya from burning. While the jambalaya is cooking, stir it every once in a while to make sure that nothing is sticking to the bottom. At this point, stir often to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Have the temperature be just a notch below a simmer. If it begins to boil, lower the heat, or add water. Cook slowly for an hour as the rice absorbs the liquid.
