Mardi Gras Dirty Rice with Red Beans

Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Today is Fat Tuesday so I thought I would honor it with this Creole dish.   You can eat this rice as a side dish or as a main dish.   This is a great dish to use up leftover rice.  If you do not have leftover rice, then make the rice in advance and allow to cool before starting the cooking process.  You will need to yield at least 5 cups cooked rice.

Brown 1lb of your desired ground meat (beef, chicken, pork sausage or turkey).  I used ground chicken.  I used no oil, but you can used oil to get the meat browned.  If you have any fat rendered, drain it before proceeding.  ** The dish traditionally calls for about another pound of chopped chicken livers.  You can do this if you like.  I did omit this from my dish however. **

Once the meat is browned, added 1 cup diced onion, 1/2 cup green bell pepper and 1/2 cup diced celery. This is called the Trinity in Creole cooking.  You may need to add some oil to saute' the vegetables. Also add 1Tbs minced garlic and 2 bay leaves.

Once the veggies cooked down, add  1 1/2 Tbs of creole seasoning (to make your own see the recipe  below), 1 can of red kidney beans and one can of diced tomatoes.  Once the seasoning has been incorporated through the dish add  1 1/2 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduced to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.  **if you want this extra spicy add 1Tbs red chili flakes.

Emeril's Creole Seasoning:

2 1/2 Tbs paprika

2Tbs salt

2 Tbs garlic powder

1 Tbs black pepper

1 Tbs onion powder

1 Tbs cayenne pepper

1 Tbs dried oregano

1 Tbs dried Thyme

Once sauce has simmered, add your (chilled) cooked rice (I used brown bastmati).  Also add 1/4 cup of fresh parsley minced and juice from half a lemon.  Incorporate all ingredients and allow to cook for 2-5 minutes to cooked rice through.

Serves 4-6 people.  Enjoy. 

** I adapted this recipe from Emeril Lagasse on Food Network.

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