Deer Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe by:
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
  • 4 strips of smoked bacon, chopped
  • 2 cups diced yellow onion
  • 2 cups diced celery
  • 1 cup diced yellow bell pepper
  • 1 cup diced red bell pepper
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2 cups chopped smoked deer sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 cup diced smoked ham
  • 2 pounds medium (41/50 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 cup beer
  • 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  • 1 (10-ounce) can mild diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained, such as RoTel
  • 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 cup diced green onion tops
  • 1 teaspoon Acadiana Table Cajun Seasoning Blend, see recipe here
  • Dash of hot sauce
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 cups uncooked long-grain white rice, such as Supreme
  • 4 cups chicken stock
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
  2. In a large cast-iron pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat, fry the bacon until done. Remove the bacon, drain and chop into pieces. Reserve for later use.
  3. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat. Add the onions, celery, and bell pepper to the bacon grease and cook until the onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic along with the sausage and ham and continue to sauté until the meats just begin to turn brown, about 5 minutes. Deglaze the pot by pouring in the beer and scraping the bits from the bottom of the pot while stirring. Add the bacon pieces back to the pot along with the shrimp and all of the chopped tomatoes, parsley, and green onions. Add the Cajun seasoning and a couple of shakes of hot sauce along with salt and black pepper.
  4. Add the rice to the pot and stir until evenly distributed. Add the stock and stir again. Cover the pot and place in the oven for 1 hour.
  5. Do not stir or even raise the lid on the pot for 1 hour. In that hour, all the flavors are coming together, and the rice is cooking. At the end of the hour, take a peek but do not stir. Make sure most of the stock has been absorbed and taste to see if the rice is cooked to at least al dente. If so, turn off the oven, cover the pot and leave it in the hot oven for another twenty minutes. Serve with crusty bread and ice-cold beer.
Notes
There are many commercially available venison sausages on the market; I like the bold taste of deer combined with pork, but feel free to make this recipe with any smoked pork sausage. I use red and yellow bell peppers in this dish for the bright colors, but green will work as well. It bears repeating that jambalaya should never be stirred after it has gone into the oven or you will wind up with a gummy, starchy mess. Patience is a virtue when cooking jambalaya. Have a beer and relax.
Recipe by Acadiana Table at https://www.acadianatable.com/2017/09/04/smoked-deer-sausage-shrimp-jambalaya/