RCP: Cajun Dirty Rice

Dirty Rice is a dish from Louisiana. It originated as a way to use gizzards and other offal. This is Paul Prudhomme's Cajun version from his Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook.

Seasoning Mix (combine all ingredients and set aside)
2 tsp ground red chile (preferably cayenne)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/4 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp dried mustard powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

2 TBS chicken fat (or vegetable oil)
1/2 pound chicken gizzards, ground
1/4 pound ground pork
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
2 tsp minced garlic
2 TBS unsalted butter
2 cups chicken or pork stock
1/3 pound chicken livers, ground
3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice (see note)

1) In a large skillet, saucepan, gumbo pot, or dutch oven, heat the chicken fat over high heat. Add the gizzards, pork, and bay leaves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is thoroughly browned, about 6 minutes.

2) Stir in the seasoning mix, then add the onions, celery, bell peppers, and garlic. Stir thoroughly, scraping the pan bottom well. Add the butter and stir until melted. Reduce heat to medium and cook about 8 minutes, stirring and constantly scraping the pan bottom well to avoid sticking.

3) Add the stock and stir until any of the mixture sticking to the pan bottom comes loose. Cook 8 minutes over high heat, stirring once. Stir in the chicken livers and cook about 2 minutes.

4) Add the rice and stir thoroughly. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes. (The rice is finished in this way so as not to overcook the livers and to preserve the delicate flavor.) Remove bay leaves and serve.

NOTES

I've never made this myself (I posted this recipe because Jenise asked about it). The cooking time for the rice in step (4) strikes me as too short, especially if parboiled rice is used. Plain jasmine rice takes 15 minutes to cook, followed by a 3-minute rest off the heat. For Ben's Original Parboiled Rice, I'd have thought 20 minutes more appropriate.

Regarding the rice, Prudhomme's recipe says "preferably converted". "Converted" was the trademarked term for the parboiled rice sold under the name Uncle Ben's Converted Rice and now called Ben's Original Parboiled Rice. I, too, prefer Ben's Original over basmati or jasmine rice for Cajun and Creole dishes. Any long-grain rice is suitable, but the amount of stock and cooking time may need adjustment.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul, thanks for posting. Yes gonna make me some Dirty Rice now! (But I will leave out the livers--I don't hate them but I don't have access to small quantities of either livers or gizzards, so I'd buy and use just gizzards.) Re the rice cookery, I allow 15 minutes for Uncle Ben's which I like and use for some things. It does have a flavor and texture unlike anything else that I like a lot. But it's only one rice of maybe 6 different kinds in my pantry.

This dish is a New Year's Day staple at my dinner table (and a time or two more through the year). And I agree that Uncle Bens is the go-to rice for most Cajun/Creole recipes. I learned this recipe by Paul Prudhomme when his book first came out. Love this recipe and many others from that book. I usually skip the gizzards but I find the livers necessary for that dirty rice flavor that you don't get in any other way. I find livers (and other offals) at most Asian grocery stores. I also discovered many decades ago that I like the livers pureed and stirred into the dish just as it finishes cooking. The heat cooks the livers instantly and you end up with a fluffy, tender, full-flavored rice. Yum!

[Jenise]

Great tips, Jo Ann, thank you.

Jo Ann, I like your treatment of the livers better than what Prudhomme wrote in his book. Your method lets the rice cook properly.

-Paul W.

Jo Ann, I like your treatment of the livers better than what Prudhomme wrote in his book. Your method lets the rice cook properly.

-Paul W.

Yes, I figured this out when I had a tub of livers that were particularly sinewy (or whatever those strands of connective thread are, and the outside shiny casing on the livers). I found that they don't break down and you end up with a few tough strands in your rice. When I removed the casing, the livers broke apart into what looked like blood clots. I threw them all into a small blender and it took no more than one or two whirs and about 5 seconds to reduce it to paste. When I threw it into the pan and saw the immediate effect, I never turned back. BTW, you can now find parboiled rice in most stores that sell a large variety of bulk food items (except for health food stores for some reason). You can get it for pennies on the dollar. I buy about 5lbs worth at WinCo and keep it in a gallon jar.
Bon Appetit!

The issue at health food stores is probably vitamin enrichment. Most of the vitamin content in rice is in the hull that is removed to create polished white rice. The parboiling process gives the manufacturer the opportunity to add back the lost vitamins, particularly niacin. Pellagra, the disease caused by niacin deficiency, used to be endemic in the US deep South where white rice and corn where the grain staples. White rice is all but devoid of B vitamins. Corn (maize) has plenty of niacin, but it's in a form that can't be absorbed by the human digestive tract. Treatment of the corn kernels with an alkaline solution (lye or slaked lime) to produce hominy releases the niacin. The native Americans who first domesticated corn figured this out ages ago.

-Paul W.