My own semi-official Jambalaya recipe

'Semi-official' because I got the base from Justin Wilson, and have fiddled with it since.

This was also the recipe that taught me you don't have to actually measure everything for a lot of stuff; you just throw something in, taste it, and add some more if need be. Or add something else.

Roughly, you use
1 bundle of green onion, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 or 1/2 if you prefer, bell pepper, chopped. I like the red ones best.
3 or four cloves of garlic
tomato sauce, two of the small cans
3 cups rice
1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced thin
2 cups wine
2 or 3 stalks of celery, chopped thin

Heat some oil in the pot and dump in the onions and bell pepper, saute' till almost clear. Then throw in the garlic and tomato sauce, and let it get hot. Add the rice and sausage, then the wine, then add enough water to cover it all by about 1", stir regularly over low heat until the rice is tender.

Basically that's it. You can also add in shrimp, shred some leftover turkey or chicken and add it. You could use something like crumbled Italian sausage. I like to add in about a heaping tablespoon of my Dad's jalapeno relish. Just throw stuff in until you like the taste.

The first time I made it I found, partway in, I didn't have any wine. I did have part of a bottle of sherry. I thought it might be too strong, so I used a cup of it cut with a cup of water. It worked great. My son, who informed me that the sherry itself smelled like grass clippings fermenting in a trash bag, also informed me that the stuff just didn't taste right without it.

When your 12-year-old advises you not to forget the booze, you just know you've done something right.