Cajun Jambalaya

Tony Chachere's or McCormick's Cajun/Creole spice (you can approximate with equal amounts of black, Cayenne, and white pepper; some garlic powder, and salt) 2 tbsp parsley thyme 1 bay leaf) Rice and water (1:2, 1-4 cups of rice) If the meat has bones, boil it until it's reasonably easy to get it off the bone. (save the stock) Dice up meat, fry it until some fat is rendered, add diced up veggies, fry until they are coated with fat and begin to soften. Add some spice and herbs, toss around until the meat and veggies are coated. Add water, bring to a boil. Boil/simmer until the meat is over half done. (taste the stock occasionally to make sure the spices are ok) Add the rice and cook until the rice is done. As with the gumbo, of you're using shrimp, add 5-10 minutes before done. Serve with Tabasco and bread. Total prep time: 40-50 minutes total effore expended: 10-20 minutes INCREDIBLY tasty for the amount of effort I find that a pound of meat, a bell pepper, and a bunch of scallions go well with about 2 cups of rice. That much should serve about 4-5 folks, depending on how hungry they are. To make Creole, add a can of tomatoes or tomato sauce/paste about 5 minutes before the end of the boil. You can also add some shrimp/other seafood 5-10 minutes before the end of the boil.