SoCo soul food

The month of February is party time in New Orleans and as the annual carnival - Mardi Gras - hits the streets with thousands of revellers celebrating the last day before Lent, Southern Comfort is bringing a taste of New Orleans to the UK in February with their SoCo Social Mardi Gras month, including a series of free parties bringing the sounds, sights and flavours of Mardi Gras to London, Manchester and Glasgow.

See Socosocial.co.uk to apply for tickets.

To bring the taste of Creole cooking into your home, try this tasty recipe for Southern Comfort Jambalaya, a spicy sausage and fish rice dish that is perfect for any night of the week.

Southern Comfort Jambalaya
Preparation time: less than 30 mins / Cooking Time: 45 mins. to 1 hour (serves 6).

Ingredients
• 8 tbsp of Sunflower, vegetable or olive oil
• 450g of smoked sausage, sliced
• 450g of king prawns
• 500g of boneless chicken pieces
• 2 medium green peppers, chopped
• 1 medium red pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch of Spring Onions, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 sticks celery, chopped
• 2 tbsp, minced/crushed garlic
• 1 400g can of tinned tomatoes, with liquid
• 2 pints of chicken stock
• 225ml cup of Southern Comfort
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 1-1/2 teaspoons of dried thyme & oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 500g of easy-cook American style rice

Method
1. In a large pot, sauté sausage in cooking oil until lightly browned
2. Remove sausage from pot and sauté chicken until cooked
3. Remove chicken and sauté onions, celery, garlic, green and red peppers until tender
4. Then add tomatoes (with liquid), thyme, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper, and cook for 5 minutes
5. Stir in rice and add chicken stock, SoCo, and Worcestershire sauce
6. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, add sausage and chicken
7. Once the rice has swollen and is part cooked add the prawns
8. Simmer for 45 mins until the rice is fluffy, prawns are meat are cooked through
9. Taste for seasoning, add salt, black pepper and more spices, depending on your personal taste
10. Serve

NB: If you find the rice dry upon serving, add a tbsp mixture of water and SoCo and stir through to loosen the grains.