SMOKED SAUSAGE UK RECIPES

1. Jambalaya is a French word that means ‘jumbled’ or ‘mixed up’, and I have no doubt that the philosophy and heart of this recipe come from a similar place to paella, kedgeree and risotto.
2. Originally, any Louisiana ‘critter’ unlucky enough to get caught would have gone into this: rabbit, duck, squirrel, frog, alligator. . . you name it! And similarly, you can adapt it to whatever your local butcher or fishmonger happens to have. Go cheaper by using things like frozen prawns and chicken livers, or more expensive by including lobster or crab. I used an incredible local smoked sausage called andouille, but fresh chorizo or any other smoked sausage would work just as well.
3. This dish makes me happy every time I eat it. And if more people than expected turn up for dinner just add a bit of extra rice.
4. Season the chicken with sea salt, black pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Pour a couple of lugs of oil into a large casserole type pan and brown the chicken pieces and sliced sausage over a medium heat. After 5 minutes, once nicely browned on all sides, add your onion, peppers and celery as well as your bay, thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir, then fry on a medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes stirring every now and again. It’s important to control the heat of the pan: you don’t want it to be so slow nothing’s happening, or so fast that things are catching and burning. You want a steady, solid heat.
5. Once the veg have softened, add your garlic and chillies, stir around for a minute, then stir in the tinned tomatoes and chicken stock.
6. Bring everything to the boil, then turn the heat down, pop the lid on the pan and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. When you can pull the meat off the bone and shred it easily the chicken’s ready. Feel free to remove the chicken bones at this point if you like, then add your rice. Give it all a good stir, then put the lid on. Give it a stir every few minutes, scraping the goodness off the bottom of the pan as you go. Let it cook for about 15 to 20 minutes until the rice is perfectly cooked. Stir in the prawns and if it needs it, add enough water to make it a kind of porridgey consistency (look at the picture). Pop the lid back on and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes while you chop your parsley. Stir the parsley through and serve on a lovely big platter. I absolutely love this with a lemony green salad.

Stud a couple of the onion slices with the cloves. Put the onion slices in a large pan with the bay leaf, 450ml (¾ pint) of the milk, the cream, cod and smoked fish. Bring just to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes. Lift the fish out onto a plate and strain the cooking liquor into a jug.When the fish is cool enough to handle, break it into large flakes, discarding the skin and any bones. Sprinkle it over the base of a shallow 1.75 litre (3 pint) ovenproof dish.

Hard-boil the eggs for 8 minutes, then drain and leave to cool. Peel them, cut into chunky slices and arrange on top of the fish.

Melt half the butter in a pan, add the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring. Take the pan off the heat and gradually stir in the reserved cooking liquor. Return it to the heat and bring slowly to the boil, stirring all the time.Leave it to simmer gently for 10 minutes to cook out the flour. Remove from the heat once more, stir in the parsley and season with nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Pour the sauce over the fish and leave to cool. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Boil the potatoes for 15–20 minutes. Drain, mash and add the rest of the butter and the egg yolk. Season with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Beat in enough of the remaining milk to form a soft spreadable mash.

Spoon the potato over the filling and mark the surface with a fork. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until piping hot and golden brown.