1.  Add the chicken, onion, celery, carrots, peppercorns and water to a pot large enough to hold everything. Place it over medium high heat and bring it just to the boil. Simmer over medium low heat so it stays just at or below a very slow boil for about 45 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool down a bit, maybe about 30 minutes. This cool down is not absolutely necessary but I think it helps make the stock richer.

2.  Once the stock has cooled remove the thighs and remove the skins and pick the meat off the bone. You don't need to chop up the meat any more because it will break up in the dish while cooking. This can be done a day ahead of time if you want to streamline the process when you are making the jambalaya.

1.  Preheat the oven to 375° F. Cut the sausages in half lengthwise and place face down on a rack over a sheet pan. Bake in the oven until they're crisp. This may take 15 to 60 minutes and you can decide how crisp you want them to be. I like them to be like bacon and don't worry if they look like they are dried out a bit, they will come right back to life when you add them to the stock and they won't bring all that fat into the dish. Just don't burn them and you will be fine.

2.  Cut the sausages into 3/8" pieces and set aside until ready to add to the dish. And don't eat them all!

1.  Heat the oil in a heavy skillet with deep sides or in a cast iron dutch oven. Enameled cast iron such as Le Creuset works best here I think.

2.  Add the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Do not overcook and do not brown these ingredients. In the pictures below you can see the process. When you first put them in the pan it is just oil and vegetables. As they cook they will start to "sweat" their liquid and it will pool in the pan. After the liquid cooks off, you will just have oil again and that's when you know they are done.

3.  Add the peppers, salt and oregano to the pot and stir in with the vegetables.

4.  Add the rice to the pot and stir it in with the vegetables and spices. Cook for a minute or two to help absorb the oil.

5.  Add the tomatoes and stir them in. They will break up as they are stirred but if they don't chop them up with the stirring spoon until they are broken into pieces.

6.  Add the stock to the pot and stir.

7.  Add the chicken and sausage to the pot. In the picture below, notice how crispy the sausages are. When they cook in the stock they will come right back to life and add all that cooked flavor to the dish.

8.  Cook uncovered over medium low heat so you maintain a slow simmer until the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed. If it gets too dry and the rice is not yet cooked, add some more of the stock. You want this to be somewhat on the dry side and that's about all I can say. Moe would have to tell you the rest. When it's done add a handful of chopped parsley and stir that in.