Casa M Jambalaya Sauce

by Mike Hernandez June 20, 2021

Think of this as "the essence of jambalaya" all packed into a single concentrated sauce. The "Cajun Trinity" of onion, peppers, and celery are on full display here, though, as usual we replace bell peppers with poblano chiles for added flavor and depth. Obviously this sauce is setting us up for the Casa M Pasta Jambalaya recipe, which comes next, but it can be used on virtually anything. We were thinking about developing a baked pasta dish similar to a baked ziti with this as a base. Stay tuned for that.

Tasso is easy to find in Louisiana, but much more challenging outisde Louisiana. Even in the Dallas metroplex it's hard to find (even in the boutique grocery stores), though HEB grocery stores do have it in most of the rest of Texas. Definitely try to find it if you can. If not, don't worry. Just substitute a good quality Canadian bacon. Pick a bacon with very strong smoke flavor. You want this concentrated sauce to be very smoky. There are no added seasonings in the final Pasta Jambalaya dish, they all come from this sauce. Use high quality tomatoes. If they don't taste great out of the can, they're not going to taste great in the sauce. Tabasco now has a bunch of different sauces available. This recipe calls for the original Tabasco red hot sauce.

As always, from our table to yours... #SpiceConfidently #EssenceOfFlavor #ChemistryInTheKitchen #CasaMSpice

— Mike Hernandez

ingredients

For the Vegetables:

4 ounces bacon, choose one with very strong smoke flavor, diced
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 cup poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, cut into strips, and then diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
2 Tablespoons garlic, diced

Pulling It All Together:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup tasso, diced (if you can't get your hands on tasso, use chopped high quality Canadian bacon)
1 Tablespoon parsley, minced
1/2 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Casa M Spice Co® Uncontrolled Chain Reaction®
1 Tablespoon Casa M Spice Co® Uncontrolled Cattle Drive®
4 bay leaves
1/4 cup scallions, green tops only, chopped
28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes with all juices, crushed by hand
28 ounces fire-roasted diced tomatoes with all juices
3 cups chicken stock
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce

FEATURED QUOTE

Tasso is easy to find in Louisiana, but much more challenging outisde Louisiana... Definitely try to find it if you can. If not, don't worry. Just substitute a good quality Canadian bacon.

- Mike Hernandez

LET’S GET COOKING

1.
Add the bacon to a thick bottomed sautée pan over medium-high heat and brown the bacon. When you start to see color on the bacon and it has rendered it's fat, add the vegetables and sautée in the bacon fat until they start to brown. Turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook the vegetables until they start to look caramelized.
2.
Add the butter and tasso or Canadian bacon to the pan and mix well. Cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes (both the crushed whole tomatoes and the diced fire-roasted), bay leaves, Casa M Spice Co® seasonings, salt and chicken broth.
3.
Bring to a boil then add the parsley, basil, green onion, apple cider vinegar, and Tabasco.
4.
Reduce heat to simmer and cook until the sauce reduces to about 2 quarts total volume. This should take just over 1 hour. Stir about every 15 minutes to ensure no scorching.
5.
The sauce is now ready to use. If you can it while it's HOT, it will last in the refrigerator unopened for a month. If you let it cool before you can it, use it within a week.