Old-Fashioned Dirty Rice

Dirty rice’s origins may come as a surprise to most.  It was not ground beef or pork that made it dirty.  It was giblets.  By grinding (or finely mincing if you don’t have a grinder) both textures and tastes become somewhat less distinguishable.  There are no tough chewy gizzard pieces or chunks of liver to turn off picky eaters.  Giblets from any game bird can be used, as can the heart and liver from your deer.

If you’d like to try the recipe, but are not blessed with any wild ingredients, use what you have.  Even ground beef or pork sausage can be used.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rice – preferably long grain

3-4 tablespoons fat

1 cup liver (see notes), finely minced or ground

10-12 ounces gizzards and hearts, well cleaned and ground

1 1/2 cups chicken or beef stock

1/2 cup each onion, green pepper and celery, finely diced

1 hot pepper, minced

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 to 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning/spice

1 teaspoon dried oregano (or 1/3 teaspoon fresh oregano)

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

4-5 green onions, minced

Directions:

Begin by cooking the rice using your preferred method.  I like using my rice cooker.  When it is done, set it aside to thoroughly cool.  If you have leftover rice that translates into about 4 1/2 cups cooked rice.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the fat over medium-high heat.  When it is not just melted, but hot, drop in the meat and stir it around.  Then spread it evenly across the bottom of the pan and let it develop a crust.  That’s where some of the good taste comes from, so while you’ll need to stir it occasionally go easy on it so you get that crustiness.

If you use a low-salt variety of Cajun seasoning, or if you don’t like it hot so you’re holding back on the seasoning, now’s the time to sprinkle the meat with some salt (unless you are sodium restricted).

After you get that good crust going, add between 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the meat stock to deglaze the pan.  Stir well to get all those delicious morsels that were stuck to the bottom of the pan up into the broth.  Add the onion, peppers, and celery. Mix to combine and cook for 3 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Add the oregano and Cajun seasoning, stir and let sit long enough to develop another crust on the bottom.  Flavor, flavor and more flavor!  When you’ve accomplished that additional crust, add the remaining broth and repeat scraping the goodies from the bottom of the pan.  Add the rice and thoroughly stir in.

When the liquid has cooked out, stir in the green onions and parsley.  Serve hot.

About the Ingredients:

Rice: The original recipe calls for long-grain rice.  Substitute only if you don't have it on hand or have food sensitivities.

Fat:  The ideal fat is duck fat.  Since most of us don’t have the luxury of cooking with duck fat, you can substitute lard or extra virgin coconut oil.

Liver:  This can be from any healthy game bird, chicken, squirrel, deer or even raccoon.

Stock:  Any meat stock will do.  You can use a combination as well.   Check out my August 2012 post on making stock.

Hot pepper: Choose your favorite or what you have on hand.  I prefer habañero, but because of its heat I use less.  Adjust this to suit your taste.

Cajun seasoning/spice:  This can be purchased or made.  Check out my August 2012 post for a recipe.

Oregano:  Marjoram can be used as a substitute in a pinch.