Creole Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

This is a recipe from my mom's recipe file (altered slightly) that she and I made for my sixth grade social studies fair project, Creole and Cajun Cooking: A Cultural Mix. I made it to freeze for my MIL's visit in a few weeks.

• Ready In: 1 hr 5 mins
• Serves: 4-6
• Yields: 1 large pot

Ingredients

• 2 -3  lbs chicken, boiled, deboned, and torn into manageable pieces
• 1  lb smoked sausage, sliced
• 1⁄2 cup onion, chopped
• 1  tablespoon sugar (added in to my mom's recipe, she didn't remember doing it but it works)
• 1⁄2 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup celery, chopped
• 2⁄3 cup  uncooked rice (white! I don't want to figure out the liquid or cooking time difference on brown rice)
• 1  cup chicken broth (I used the broth from the boiled chicken)
• 1  cup tomatoes (or 1 can, drained but don't drain if you are freezing the recipe)
• 1  large garlic clove, minced (or as the recipe says, 1 large garlic toe)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper (fresh ground, or to taste)
• 1  small bay leaf
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Directions

1. Saute sausage, onion, celery, and bell pepper with sugar (using the fat that renders from the sausage) in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Cook until veggies are tender and sausage is slightly browned.
3. Stir in rice, broth, tomatoes, and seasonings. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
4. Stir in chicken. Put in oven and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
5. Fluff lightly with a fork. Remove bay leaf.