Dirty Rice

Dirty rice is a traditional Cajun dish of cooked white rice with small pieces of chicken liver or giblets, which give it a 'dirty' color and a mild but distinctive flavor.

Recipe Ingredients:

1 pound mild bulk pork sausage
Melted bacon drippings or vegetable oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
8 ounces chicken giblets, finely chopped
2 cups water
Red pepper hot sauce to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
6 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
10 cups hot cooked rice

Cooking Directions:

1. Brown sausage in a large Dutch oven, stirring until crumbled. Remove sausage, reserving drippings; set sausage aside.
2. Add enough bacon drippings to reserved drippings to equal 1/2 cup; add flour, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until roux is caramel-colored, about 15 minutes.
3. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic; cook until tender. Add giblets, and cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. Add water and seasonings to taste; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours.
4. Stir in green onion and parsley. Cover and simmer an additional 20 minutes. Stir in rice just before serving.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.