Here in Louisiana, we wouldn't add roux to jambalaya. We use it as a thickener for gumbos, bisques, and sometimes etouffees. That's not to say its wrong, just not how we'd do it. To each his own. There's a common saying in Louisiana that "There are as many recipes for gumbo as cooks who make it". That applies to jambalaya as well.
There are two types of Jambalaya: Cajun (brown) and Creole (red). Cajun jambalaya gets it color from the gratin (chef's call it a "fond") that develops in the pot while the meat is browning. Creole jambalaya gets its color from the tomatoes that are added to it (There are no tomatoes in a Cajun jambalaya, ever). Although I grew up eating Creole jambalaya with seafood, I have developed a huge taste for Cajun jambalayas with meat and no seafood at all. Personally, I never mix meat and seafood in jambalayas or gumbos. I think that chicken and sausage overpower more delicate flavors like shrimp and oyster.
This was posted on an LSU Tailgating Forum:
Procedure for Cooking Jambalaya 1 Chop all vegetables. Slice the sausage. Cut the pork meat cut into cubes (Try to keep a small piece of fat on each piece as it tenderizes the meat and adds great taste.) Season meat pieces well with salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning mix. 2 Brown the pork down really well in oil. Let it fry till it sticks, then stir. Do that over and over. Sometimes a little water is needed to cool off the grease. The sticky part (gratin) on the bottom of the pot will dictate your color of the rice. 3 You can remove the browned meat from the pot, but many cooks choose to leave the it in while browning the other meats. Add the chicken and brown it well. 4 Next, brown the sausage. Don't cook the sausage till fried dark brown because that tends to cooks all the taste out. Just mildly brown it. 5 Drain the grease but dont lose the gratin. Then add the onions, green pepper, celery and garlic and cook till clear looking. This is when you scrape the bottom of the pot getting all the brown gratin from the pork. This is where the color starts to come in. 6 After the vegetables are cooked add the meat back to the pot and mix well. Cook all the water out at this time. 7 Add water or stock and after it comes to a boil, start tasting the liquid and add salt and other seasonings as needed. It needs to be a bit salty because the rice will absorb much of the saltiness. 8 Skim the remaining grease off the top. The boiling action will help separate it from the water/broth. 9 Add the green onions then bring back to a rolling boil then add the rice. Break it up to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom. Let it boil until it starts to expand and "jump out the pot". This is a very important time relevant to the "popping" of the rice. Let the rice get noticeably bigger/expanded before you cut heat and cover. This can be achieved on a HARD boil. Critical to the rice pop. 10 When you think its ready to cover, cut back on the heat and put the lid on. Do not lift the cover for any reason! 11 Let this cook for about 25 minutes or so. (a longer cooking time may be needed for very large volumes of rice) Then roll the rice. Don't stir. Roll it from bottom to top. (When you turn it this time, don't scrape the bottom of the pot because one exposed burnt rice grain will ruin the pot.) Re-cover and cut the heat off. 12 Let sit for another 15 minutes and then un-cover and serve. Thanks to pochejp for the recipe guidance.
