Then The Floods Came

Atlas Serves Up Jambalaya To Help Vendor Hit Hard By Louisiana Disaster

G.K. Sharman, Writer
Reading Time: 5 minutes
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After rain deluged southern Louisiana in August 2016, the Stine Home and Yard location in Walker, LA, was slammed.

Workers at the store, part of a building supply and home improvement chain that offers Atlas products, couldn't keep anything in stock. The store's normal sales volume was 697 transactions a day. After the flood, the number jumped to 1,898. Management sent out an email asking its suppliers for help to keep up with the demand.

Atlas products don’t sit on the shelves, said Clay Pruitt, regional manager for Atlas Roofing's Southern Region, so he and Brian Olagues, an Atlas sales representative for South Louisiana, came up with an ingenious — and totally local — way to assist store employees and customers alike: Cook up some jambalaya!

Pruitt and Olagues, accompanied by two of Olagues’ firefighter friends, Clifton McGovern of the Kenner Fire Department and Joseph Jennings of the New Orleans Fire Department, set up in the parking lot on Sept. 15 and fired up the cookers. Soon, the irresistible aroma of Cajun Country’s signature dish filled the air.

Employees from several nearby Stine locations helped out, Pruitt said, and together they fed lunch to about 120 people.

“The floods devastated South Louisiana, and a lot of people suffered,” Pruitt said. “We at Atlas were proud to pitch in and support one of our suppliers that did so much for its community in the wake of this disaster.”

Stine has 12 locations in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Walker store is near Baton Rouge and Denham Springs, a hard-hit area often shown during TV reports of the flooding.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ office estimated that more than 60,000 homes were damaged and 30,000 people rescued. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported that more than 109,000 people or households applied for help and 25,000 National Flood Insurance Program claims were filed.

The flood has been called the worst natural disaster in the United States since Hurricane Sandy hit the coast of New Jersey in 2012.

Record rains that fell at rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour were reported in some areas. Other parts of the region recorded 20 inches to 2 feet of precipitation. Overall, some estimates put the storm’s total rainfall at 7.1 trillion gallons of water — more than three times the amount dropped by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.


Clay Pruitt’s Chicken And Sausage Jambalaya

(feeds 35 to 40 people)

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds mild smoked pork sausage, sliced ¼-inch thick
  • 2 pounds Andouille sausage, sliced ¼-inch thick
  • 6 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat
  • 5 pounds onions, diced
  • 1/3 cup minced fresh garlic
  • 1 4-ounce bottle Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce (optional)
  • 4 ounces Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons whole thyme leaves
  • 1¼ tablespoons ground black pepper
  • 1¼ tablespoons white pepper
  • 1¼ tablespoons cayenne (red pepper) flakes
  • 1½ gallons chicken stock
  • 6 pounds long-grain rice

Directions

Turn your high-BTU propane burner on high. In a 6-gallon cast-iron pot, brown the sausage slices. Use a large stainless steel paddle and constantly move the sausage from the bottom of the pot. Be careful not to burn the meat. Turn down the burner and remove the sausage from the pot. Remove excess oil and return sausage to the pot.

Add the chicken thigh meat and brown on all sides. Use the paddle to keep the meat from sticking and burning to the bottom of the pot. Browning the sausage and chicken meats should take 30 minutes. Try not to overcook the chicken, simply brown it. The chicken will continue to cook throughout the process.

Lower the heat to medium and add the onions and garlic; sauté for about 15 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Scrape the bottom of the pot to remove all the bits on the bottom. This is where the jambalaya gets its distinct brown color and taste.

Sometimes I add a small bottle of Kitchen Bouquet Browning and Seasoning Sauce for additional color.

Add the Worcestershire, thyme and peppers; simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Taste and adjust seasonings. Chicken stock typically is very salty. I normally buy chicken stock at this ratio: 1/3 regular, 1/3 low-sodium, 1/3 salt-free. In my opinion the sausage will add enough salt to the jambalaya. The recipe calls for 1.5 gallons (192 ounces) of stock. I purchase the 32-ounce boxes of stock. Therefore this recipe would call for 6 boxes of 32-ounce stock: two boxes of regular, two of low-sodium, two of salt-free.

Add the rice. Reduce the heat to medium and gently break up the rice. Using the stainless steel paddle, continue to scrape the bottom of the pot to ensure that the rice doesn’t stick. When the jambalaya returns to a boil, reduce heat to the lowest possible setting (you can even turn the heat off) and simmer covered for at least 25 minutes. DO NOT REMOVE THE COVER. Allow the rice to steam.

As with any recipe, once you get the hang of it, you can make it your own. This recipe should give you a starting point for some good jambalaya.

For a smaller or larger jambalaya, use this ratio: For every pound of rice, use equal amounts of meat. So if you plan to cook a two-meat jambalaya (chicken and sausage or pork and sausage), you would need a pound of rice, a pound of your first type of meat and a pound of your second type of meat. The ratio would be 1/3 rice, 1/3 chicken (or sausage) and 1/3 pork (or sausage).

Laissez les bonds temps rouler! (Translation: Let the good times roll!)