Custom Search

Friday, January 21, 2011

What to do with Gizzards: Dirty Rice, Of Course

I never heard of this dish till I moved to Louisiana. In my 20 years here, I've made it once. That's because they had some already-ground-up gizzards at the grocery, so I overcame my own squeamishness and made some. It was great! My version was much simpler than the one below: just gizzards/livers, onions, bell pepper, rice, and green onions. Plus whatever Cajun blend was at hand, probably Tony Cachere's.

Recipe is courtesy of this site.

A Cajun-style dirty rice recipe.
Ingredients:

* 3/4 pound chicken gizzards
* 3 1/2 cups hot chicken broth or beef broth
* 1 to 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
* 4 tablespoons butter, divided
* 1/2 pound ground lean pork
* 1/2 cup chopped onions
* 1/2 cup chopped celery
* 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
* 1/2 cup chopped green onions with tops
* 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or a few dashes Tabasco sauce
* 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
* 1/2 pound chicken livers, finely diced

Preparation:
Simmer gizzards in the chicken or beef broth for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove gizzards with a slotted spoon; grind or mince. Reserve broth. Heat bacon drippings and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy casserole. Sauté the pork and gizzards over high heat until pork is no longer pink. Lower heat; add vegetables and seasonings and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add rice and reserved broth; bring rapidly to a boil, stir once, cover, and lower heat. Simmer for 15 minutes, until rice is tender.
Sauté minced chicken livers in remaining butter for 3 minutes. Toss with the rice, taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper if necessary. Cover and let rice fluff in a 225° oven for 10 minutes .
Serves 4 to 6.


Does this sound good to you?

4 comments:

Duchesse said...

I've never liked the texture of gizzards but guess that ground and mixed with so much seasoning, I'd love this! I'm likely eating ground offal in the homemade egg rolls and dim sum at our local Chinese place. Sometimes not knowing is the first step!

Duchesse said...

PS. Though "offal" is a correct term, most restaurants now say "organ meats" to avoid the unfortunate homophone, "awful".

Anonymous said...

I have copied the recipe...DH loves this kind of thing!

Frugal Scholar said...

@Duchesse--I really did like buying it pre-ground. Organ meats--that sounds pretty bad too!

@Terri--Let me know how it comes out. As I said, I made a much simpler version.