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Electric Rice Cooker Method: Brown your protein in a skillet. Put the broth and jambalaya mix in the cooker and stir. Add the browned protein. For a little wetter jambalaya, add an additional 1/4 cup water. Set cooker for "White Rice" and turn it on.
When making sausage gravy for breakfast, to keep the grease down, brown your sausage and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Make the gravy per the instructions and after you've whisked the slurry into the boiling water add the sausage.
We suggest you soak your dry beans in a mixture of water and salt. This is called “brining”. You might wonder if adding salt increases the sodium in the final product? Or are you following the old wives tale that claims adding salt makes the beans tough?
The answers are: Brining the bean does not add sodium to the final product as long as you rinse your beans prior to cooking. The purpose, like brining a chicken or turkey, is to help the finished product stay juicy and plump. It improves the quality, texture, and flavor and helps to keep the bean intact and hold up during cooking.
If you like okra in your gumbo, make sure you keep extra broth or water handy to thin the gumbo down. Okra is a natural thickener. Use about 1/4 cup at a time until you get the consistency you want.
Etouffee is traditionally a milder dish and thicker than gumbo. Keep a bottle of WG Seasoning handy in case you want to add extra spice in the end.
Using very hot water to whisk the gravy before adding it to the boiling water will make a difference in the appearance in the end. If you vigorously whisk the gravy in the end you will see a glossy, beautiful result.
WG Bean Seasoning is a LOW SODIUM product. The end flavor is mild, so if you want to punch it up, add some fresh garlic, a fresh jalapeno, or shake some WG Seasoning into it. Adding a sprinkle of apple cider vinegar or any flavored vinegar gives it a punch of acid that truly enhances the flavor – but be sparing. You don’t want to end up with pickled beans.
Keep extra broth or water handy and once the gumbo has finished its 30 minute simmer, check the consistency. If you prefer a thinner gumbo, add 1/2 cup broth/water at a time until it reaches the consistency you want. After each 1/2 cup addition, bring it back to the boil before adding more.
The finished gumbo freezes very well. Simply put the uneaten portion in a freezer ziplock bag and freeze flat. When reheating, microwave for a minute or until it is slightly thawing, then transfer to a pot for a slow reheat. Add additional water if needed to thin it out.
When deciding how low to set your stove for the cook time, there needs to be a few bubbles to generate steam to cook the rice properly. It is better to have it too low than too high and if there is still liquid at the end of the cook time keep the lid on and continue to cook 5 minutes at a time until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Make it a creole dish by adding tomatoes. But keep in mind the end result will be more liquidy because of the moisture the tomatoes will release while cooking. If using canned tomatoes, drain the liquid prior to adding. If using fresh tomatoes, remove all seeds.
Try using broth instead of water for a richer gravy. Even a beef broth will make the gravy good, but might change the color a bit.
Try adding 1/2 package, or the entire package, into your chili for a deeper, beefier chili.
For a deeper flavor, add 1 Tbsp tomato paste at the same time the protein is added. Keep additional broth or water available to thin it out to the consistency of your liking.
Using a store-bought rotisserie chicken is a great way to make this even easier. But keep in mind you only need a portion of the chicken, and not the entire chicken unless you want only chicken jambalaya.
Use the brown gravy as a base for your vegetable beef soup. Instead of using the water, as the instructions state, use beef broth and you will have a delicious soup.
Salt and beans – The tale of not salting beans until there are cooked has been dashed. If you can ignore your grandmother’s words and wait until the end to salt, then you might have a new favorite method.
By salting the beans prior to cooking, you are allowing the salt to penetrate deep into the bean while cooking. This way the flavor is absorbed throughout the entire bean. If you salt at the end, when the beans are almost done, or are done, you are adding salt only to the outside of the bean.
Using the white gravy in your chicken and dumplings enhances the final flavor. Plus, by using a gluten free flour to make the dumplings, you can keep it 100% gluten free.
