00:00I remember growing up that they always
00:01make a few shrimp here or there.
00:06Hello?
00:07Hi, I'm Risa.
00:08This is my kitchen sink.
00:09Today, I will be making jambalaya.
00:11Fun fact, this is the first dish my mom taught me
00:13how to make when I was going to college.
00:16I got all my ingredients from Whole Foods,
00:18and I spent around $50.
00:20My mom gave me this recipe.
00:21I think she might have found it on thefoodnetwork.com
00:24or some online site, and she's amended it.
00:27And I amended it, and it is what it is,
00:29which is very meat heavy, I will say, and very spicy.
00:33First thing I do is I chop my veggies.
00:35Of course, I have the Holy Trinity, celery, onion,
00:37and green pepper.
00:38It goes in any kitchen dish you make.
00:40Also, I'm not very good at the onion chopping.
00:42I've watched many tutorials on YouTube.
00:44I always cry.
00:45It always looks really messy.
00:47When I'm by myself, I actually either wear my glasses
00:49or my swim goggles to chop onions, but it's not cute,
00:53so it's not being done here.
00:55Going to college, I was really worried about food.
00:57I knew food hauls were the worst thing in the world,
01:00and so I asked my mom, what are some strategies I can make
01:03that will, like, last a long time?
01:06Whatever recipe I do, I double it.
01:08I'm a person who can eat the same meal for a week straight,
01:10and it's fine.
01:11I feel like, oh, it's been there for two or three days.
01:13It's old.
01:14It's bad.
01:14I'm like, no.
01:15Expiration dates are just a suggestion.
01:22So I don't eat celery in any other capacity.
01:25You know, a lot of girls have it with, like, their peanut butter
01:28or, you know, as a kid with ants on a log.
01:30I only like it in, like, a stew form with lots of seasoning
01:34where I can't taste it at all, but it gives it a good texture.
01:38Isn't this so loud, the chopping?
01:40A little faster for you guys.
01:45The veggies are done.
01:47We flip and over, and we have our meat board.
01:52So I love the smell of sausages.
01:54You can smell all of the seasoning in here.
01:56Mm, delicious.
01:57This is what it looks like on the inside.
02:00It's like, see the pepper.
02:01Like, here's some paprika,
02:02which is, like, the beautiful coloring.
02:04It might make your food a little salty,
02:05but when you eat it, it's like you're living.
02:06I get a lot of my inspiration, really, from my mom.
02:08She is the one who taught me how to taste things,
02:11taught me to, like, to experiment with my cooking.
02:13She's, like, my number one, like, cooking role model.
02:15More than that, model for life.
02:17Here's some raw chicken.
02:18Looks kind of gross.
02:19I think the chairs are really underutilized in the kitchen.
02:21Really easy to break apart and clean.
02:25My cook smells very, like, fly-buttsy in my pants.
02:27Anything goes, basically.
02:28As long as it's, like, flavorful.
02:30I just hate dry things, like, dry chicken.
02:34Ugh, disgusting.
02:35I like using spices.
02:37It's cooking. It's not baking.
02:38So you can, like, mess up and easily remedy it.
02:41If it's, like, too much of everything,
02:42just add more of everything,
02:43and then hopefully cross your fingers and pray.
02:45Now I'm going to mix the meats together.
02:47I'm going to add in my seasoning.
02:49It's a bunch of different spices.
02:50On top is paprika.
02:51It's a big staple in Cajun cooking.
02:54But before I do, I'm going to go check my book
02:56because I don't want to put too much in there.
02:58This is my recipe book.
02:59It's just a small three-ring binder that my mom gave me
03:03and has all of my favorite recipes in it.
03:05Two tablespoons.
03:07I'm going to add my chicken.
03:09I'm just going to kind of coat it.
03:11Next step is I'm going to peel, devein, and cut the shrimp.
03:15I like to make them a little smaller.
03:16I got pretty big ones.
03:17I'm just going to cut them in half.
03:19More like normal shrimp.
03:24Now that has been seasoned.
03:26I'm going to rinse off this hand, and then I'm going to pop over and get cooking.
03:31Come along.
03:34Never have too many onions.
03:36I'm going above the suggested amount.
03:38That's all it is, a suggestion.
03:40You've chopped, you've diced, you've prepped your heart out.
03:43This is do or die time.
03:45I always believe that if someone asks you for seconds, or if they get seconds,
03:48it means you've won, or they're like very hungry, but mostly you've won.
03:53I knew that this dish was fire was when my boyfriend asked me to make it for him.
03:56And this is a man who only eats his mother's cooking.
03:59The moment he asked for my jambalaya, I knew.
04:02It was a hit.
04:04My bay leaves, which are essential.
04:09After I add in my rice, I'm going to add in some broth.
04:16Value size.
04:19It's been around 12 minutes.
04:21Now I'm going to add in my meat.
04:23It looks like the pot was just big enough.
04:25Any more, we would have been in trouble.
04:27My biggest kitchen splurge.
04:29I'm really into buying things that will last me a lifetime, like my cast iron skillets.
04:33They're my most purchased item.
04:35I figure if I love them, they'll love me, and we're like a good partner.
04:39Love you, girls.
04:40So, what I'm cooking.
04:42Most of what I'm doing is making up dance routines.
04:44And, you know, adding a little booty bump to it while stirring.
04:52So much food, guys.
04:54Last step, I'm going to take the rest of my seasoning and kind of just sprinkle it in there.
05:00Before I go on.
05:03You can see the shrimp.
05:04You can see the chicken, sausage.
05:05A little bit in every bite.
05:06A little bit.
05:07And, voila.
05:09Now, we will eat.
05:14Mm-mm.
05:15I love making jambalaya for so many reasons.
05:17I think because it's a pretty easy dish to make, and also it really reminds me of home.
05:22Southern hospitality is a real thing, and it really doesn't matter, like, what you cook.
05:25As long as you put love into it, that's what makes it taste good.
05:28Maybe it's something that we're taught in the South.
05:30It's how you, like, show people that you care.
05:32Thanks, Mom, for that.
05:33So good.
05:34Bye.
05:34Bye.
05:36Bye.
