Ingredients
1 cup aromatic Gulf Coast or South Carolina rice
2 cups of ice cubes
To prepare shrimp, dissolve the salt and sugar in a quart of water and place in a gallon zip lock bag. Add the shrimp (shells on) and the ice cubes to the bag and place in the refrigerator. After half an hour, remove the shrimp from the brine solution and clean by splitting the back shell with scissors, de-vein and peel the shell. Rinse shrimp in cold water and return to refrigerator. Reserve the shells.
Place the shrimp shells in a quart of salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for half an hour. Strain shells and reserve the shell stock.
Saute the Andouille sausage in the olive oil over medium heat until it starts to brown, about five minutes. Add the peppers, onion, and celery, and continue to saute until soft and beginning to caramelize.
Add the red pepper flakes and garlic and saute for about another two or three minutes, stirring several times. Add the dry rice, mix all ingredients well and continue to saute for another couple minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, the shrimp shell stock, bay leaf and thyme sprig. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a slow simmer, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes.
Stir the shrimp into the Jambalaya mixture and continue to cook for about three or four minutes until the shrimp are just cooked through.
Plate and dress with scallions. Serve with crusty sour dough bread. Enjoy!
