Seafood Jambalaya

Melt the chicken fat in a two quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the tasso and andouille and saute until crisp, about five to eight minutes, stirring frequently. Add the onions, celery, and Bell peppers; saute until tender but still firm, about five minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping the pan bottom well. Add the bay leaves, Cajun Magic Seafood Magic and garlic; cook about three minutes, stirring constantly and scraping the pan bottom as needed. Add the tomatoes and cook about seven minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomato sauce; cook about seven minutes more, stirring fairly often. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil. Then stir in the green onions and cook about two minutes, stirring once or twice. Add the rice, crabmeat, crawfish, and/or fish and the oysters and shrimp; stir well and remove from heat. Transfer mixture to an ungreased 13 X 9 inch baking dish/pan. Cover dish/pan snugly with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F until rice is tender but still crunchy, about twenty or thirty minutes. Remove from oven. If you still have liquid in the dish/pan bottom, let sit for a few minutes, still covered, to allow rice to absorb the liquid. Remove bay leaves and serve immediately. To serve, mold rice in an eight ounce cup and place two cups on each serving plate as main course or one cup as an appetizer. This stuff is great but time consuming to make. Makes enough to serve four to six .. easily! See the following substitution suggestions if you're not up to the full-blown recipe effort. Do not attempt to substitute for the Cajun Magic; its a lot better if you use as directed. If you never heard of or tasted andouille .. simply put, its the Cajun (actually andouille is of German and French origins) version of smoked sausage; its the spicy equivalent of Polish kielbasa. If you have a real good German or Polish butcher shop in your area try to get kielbasa; if you can't find anything other than supermarket "stuff", give KPAULS a call. I'll warn you .. andouille goes for about $12-$15 per lb.! Substitutes: 1. Use bottled clam juice instead of Seafood stock; making the seafood stock will smell up your whole house for days and its really not worth the effort. 2. Try making a chicken jambalaya .. i.e. substitute chicken for fish (about 1 1/2 lb.). Also, use two to three cups of chicken stock (canned is fine) in place of the seafood stock. I prefer Chicken jambalaya .. tastes just as good .. lots less work! BASIC SEAFOOD STOCK About 2 quarts cold water 1 1/2 to 2 lb. rinsed shrimp heads and/or shells, crawfish heads and/or shells or crab shells (ten to twelve cups), rinsed fish carcasses (heads and gills removed), or any combination of these 1 medium onion, unpeeled and quartered 1 rib celery 1 large clove garlic, unpeeled and quartered Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer gently at least four hours, preferably eight, replenishing water as needed to keep about one quart of liquid in the pan. Strain, cool and refrigerate until ready to use. Makes one quart.