Dirty Rice

[maleficent]

4 cups cooked rice (I used brown jasmine rice)

1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 green pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
4 scallions, chopped (white and green)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb meatloaf mix (ground beef/pork mixture)
1/2 lb chopped chicken livers, cleaned of visible fat, and chopped

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

a bunch of low sodium tony chachere's seasoning

In a large pot, brown the meat, using liberal amounts of tony's seasoning... add the chicken livers and cook thru adding more seasoning.

Drain and set aside.

Add vegetables to the same pot and cook until tender adding additional tony's seasoning.

Add the meat back and stir

Add the Worcestershire sauce

add the cooked rice

stir until combined...

serve...

[Alexie]

I think I will make that. Do you have a recipe for black beans and rice?

[maleficent]

I never ever thought I would appreciate the value of a rice cooker, but I am truly one of hte laziest people in the world, but refuse to own a microwave, so my rice cooker is the best way for me to cook rice (I cannot cook it on the stove without burning it, no matter what i do, because I don't pay attention...)

The Rice
Dump into a rice cooker

1tablespoons butter
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
3 cups uncooked basmati rice
juice and zest of 3 limes
6 cups cold water

turn on rice cooker... wait til done.

Black beans
1lb dried black beans
4 quarts water
1/2 cup olive oil (the original cuban recipe calls for over a cup of oil, but I thought it was too heavy.. just under 1/2 cup seems to give enough flavor and texture without drowning it
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
12 cloves garlic, peeled, finely chopped
assorted peppers of varying heats.. jalapeno, serrano, thai, poblano, whatever your pleasure, seeded and minced.
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tbs dried oregano, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Pick over beans, discarding any shriveled ones of foreign particles. Wash well and soak, covered in water, for 4 hours.
Drain and rince beans and put in a pot cover wiht fresh water.
Add ham hock to the beans. Bring rapidly to a boil.
Reduce heat to moderate cover pot and simmer beans until tender, about 45 minutes.
In a saute pan, heat 1/2 cup olive oil.
Add the chopped onions and garlic to the pan and saute over low heat.
Add the chopped chiles and season with salt and pepper.
Add the bay leaves and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add a scoop of drained black beans to the onion mixture in the saute pan, and mash thoroughly with rest of the ingredients in the skillet. Stir in the sugar and 1/2 the oregano.

Add the bean and onion mixture to the bean pot. Cover, and simmer for 1 hour, at mediumish heat. Add red wine, vinegar, rest of the oreganos and cumin.
Uncover and cook until sauce thickens. (if you have a decent pot, you could also put it in a 300 degree oven at this point, and let it go for an hour - the oven gives it more overall heat.)
serve over the rice
(you could also go the uber lazy route and dump all items in a crock pot and leave alone... though the crock pot texture tends ot makethe beans mushier.. this gives tehm a little more body

[Alexie]

Thanks much!

Originally Posted by maleficent

(you could also go the uber lazy route and dump all items in a crock pot and leave alone... though the crock pot texture tends ot makethe beans mushier.. this gives tehm a little more body

Yeah, that!
I don't have a rice cooker but a crockpot.

I'll probably use canned beans; I have used dried beans and despite the fact of them being soaked for HOURS, they didn't get soft enough.

[seldonbilly]

My wife and I did the Dirty Rice Saturday night and it was just great. I have never had Dirty Rice any where a good as that and I spent several months in and around Alexandria, LA and had some mighty fine Dirty Rice. I use a container of Harold's Dressing mix (or Savoie's if I can't find Harold's) and mix it with a pound of browned ground beef (as well as a bunch of sauteed trinity) before adding cooked rice to the mix. Voila! Dirty rice, aka rice dressing.