Dirty rice mix

If you can get a frozen mix like Savoies or Richards it would be way better

Not sure if you're a duck hunter or not but I did this one for Thanksgiving and knocked some socks off. I did the whole deal with the duck innards, duck stock and all, but I'm sure you could skate around that with chicken livers and stock. It's good

CAJUN DIRTY RICE
by Hank Shaw | December 3, 2015 | 6 Comments

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Cajun dirty rice recipe
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Dirty rice is a traditional Cajun preparation, and it happens to be one of the best uses for giblets ever — especially to those who think they hate eating them. What makes the rice “dirty” is ground up gizzards and minced liver. And when I say “minced,” I really mean chopped almost into a puree. You really never know you’re eating giblets. Seriously.

But this rice is roll-your-eyes-back-in-your-head good! I mean, really, really fantastic. Spicy, meaty, and richly flavored, dirty rice is a perfect side dish, or a light supper on its own.

Do me a favor: If you don’t have any wild game giblets — because you didn’t save them — make this recipe with regular chicken giblets. Please. Then come back and tell me how sorry you were for not saving the gizzards, hearts and livers of all those ducks or geese or pheasants you shot.

I most often use duck giblets for my dirty rice, but pheasant, grouse, wild turkey or really any game bird will do. You can even use the hearts, livers and kidneys from rabbits or squirrels. The only caveat is that small birds like teal or quail are really not worth cleaning the gizzards from. I mean you can if you want, but you get only a smidge of meat. Mallards and geese are ideal, as are wild turkeys and pheasants.

And big game works, too. Grind heart meat and some liver and you’re in business.

Cajun dirty rice recipe
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
CAJUN DIRTY RICE

As I mentioned above, any sort of livers and naughty bits will work here. I normally use duck or goose giblets, but upland game bird giblets are excellent, as would ground deer liver and heart. The trick to good dirty rice, at least to me, is to get a succession of crusts on the bottom of the frying pan that you scrape away with a wooden spoon. Each crust adds a little more flavor; it’s a technique you see a lot in Italian sugos, which are long-cooked pasta sauces.

Serve this on its own for a light dinner, or as a side dish to gumbo, or roast birds or venison.
Serves 4 to 6.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
3 tablespoons duck fat, lard or vegetable oil
1/2 to 1 cup livers from birds, or about 3 ounces deer liver
1/2 to 1 pound of ground meat, from gizzards and hearts or any other ground meat
Salt
1 1/2 cups meat broth
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
1 to 3 hot chiles, anywhere from Tabasco to jalapeno, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 to 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 green onions. chopped
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Cook the rice as usual. Move the cooked rice to a sheet pan and lay it out to cool. You need to start with cool rice. And yes, you can do this step a day ahead if you want.
If you are using gizzards, clean them of grit and that silver membrane and either chop fine or grind in a meat grinder. A meat grinder is better, but not everyone has one. Alternately, you can use any ground meat. Either finely grind or finely chop the livers.
Heat the duck fat over medium-high heat and, when it is hot, add the ground gizzards and the chopped livers. Toss to coat in the fat and then let them sit a bit to develop a crust on the bottom of the pan. Stir only occasionally, as you want to develop a good crust. If your Cajun seasoning isn’t salty, salt the meat now.
Pour about 1/4 cup of the broth into the pan and use it to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the onion, peppers, celery and garlic. Mix to combine and Cook for a solid 3 to 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
Sprinkle over the oregano and the Cajun seasoning and let a crust form on the bottom of the pan again. When it does, add the rest of the broth and the rice and mix to combine. Scrape the bottom of the pan again. When the liquid has almost totally evaporated, mix in the green onions. You’re ready when the liquid has all evaporated. Serve hot.

It's actually for a duck camp so I may be able to get some gizzards.

Go to Maurice and get you a quart of Hebert's (of deboned chicken fame) rice dressing mix. Comes with gizzards, liver already mixed in. When you simmer and before adding rice, mix in one pound of ground pork, simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, add green onions and cooked rice.

Yea it copy/pasted weird. Oh well it's a bad arse recipe and it's in that wall of text. Speaking of books, this is the best book for cooking ducks I've ever seen. Will make a fine Christmas present

Get yourself a container of bourques mix, a lb of ground gizzards, a lb of ground sirloin, two onions, a bunch of green onion, a bell pepper, and four celery stalks.

I add a tbls of minced garlic and I'm pretty liberal with the salt and cayenne.

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If you can get a frozen mix like Savoies or Richards it would be way better

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If you're anywhere near Hebert's in Maurice, their wet mix is terrific. Just add a ton of green onions.

Otherwise, the wet mixes suggested will be better than the boxed mixes. They're easy. Make the rice, heat the wet mix, mix together and toss with a lot of green onions.

Bourque's mix. And add parsley while mixing.

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