jambaoa --- (jamba-WHAT?!)

\jəm-bə-wä\

leave it to a cajun to take something healthy like quinoa and spice it up. this is the rebel quinoa, not the goody-two-shoes quinoa. quinoa a la pork jambalaya--but, jambaoa is more succinct and fun to say!

one of the best things about this dish: i always make way too much meat and gravy then freeze the leftovers (sans quinoa) in mason jars. during a busy week, i can put the jar in the fridge in the morning to defrost, use some of the gravy to make quinoa in about 15 minutes, heat up the remainder of the gravy and meat, and have a hot main dish that tastes just as good as the day i made it.

ingredients:

  • 2 tsp. olive oil
  • 4 pork chops, bone in*
  • 1 sweet yellow jumbo onion
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp. fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/8 - 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (optional, pick your level of heat)
  • 1 tsp. beef BTB
  • 6 cups water

preparation of gravy and meat:

  1. preheat oven to 275F.
  2. in a large dutch oven, lay pork chops flat on the the bottom of the dutch oven in a small bit of oil. brown pork chops on one side then flip. brown until dark brown gradoux forms on the bottom of the dutch oven.
  3. remove pork chops from dutch oven. add onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. allow onions and garlic to caramelize, intermittently scrape gradoux from bottom of the dutch oven to stir into onions and garlic. 
  4. once onions have caramelized and are dark brown, add water and bring to a simmer on medium-high heat. stir in BtB. once BtB is dissolved, return pork chops to dutch oven.
  5. bring gravy to a boil and cover. transfer dutch oven to 425F oven. cook for 3 hours.
  6. remove from oven. once gravy and meat have cooled sufficiently, carefully use a fork and spoon to remove bones from meat, which should fall apart. roughly separate remaining meat with fork into chunks.  

preparation of jambaoa: 

per each 2 cups of gravy and meat:

  1. remove 1/2 cup of gravy only. combine 1/2 cup gravy, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup dry quinoa in a small saucepan. bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. simmer on low for 15 minutes until quinoa is cooked.
  2. meanwhile, heat remaining 1 1/2 cups gravy and meat in a separate saucepan. once quinoa is cooked, add quinoa to gravy and meat. stir thoroughly and warm to desired temperature.
  3. serve and enjoy! 

 

* though you can use boneless pork chops, the bone really develops the flavor of this dish. plus, because the meat is slow-cooked, it will fall off of the bone after cooking--it's not difficult or inconvenient to debone the meat after it's cooked and the added flavor is worth it, i promise!