As I was reading through the recipe for Smothered Rabbit yesterday, I decided I wanted to go beyond the basic white rice and try making dirty rice. Usually I fry the livers and giblets and serve them as an appetizer with a bit of creole mustard sauce, but since I had made rabbit stock and had 2 cups leftover (just the perfect amount for the dirty rice), I thought I’d try my hand at this Cajun classic.

Here’s a bit of a shocker — as much Cajun and Creole food as I’ve eaten over the years, I’m not sure I’ve ever had a homemade dirty rice made with the giblets. The old standbye was Zatarain’s dirty rice with sausage thrown in.

So back to the rice. If I don’t use parts of an animal, I tend to throw them back into the freezer for later use. (more…)

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Cajun & Creole, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch by Courtney

Yesterday, I decided we were way overdue for a rabbit dinner. Rabbit is one of my favorite meats, probably because I don’t get it very often. Since we’re coming up on the Mardi Gras grand finale, I decided to pull out a Cajun recipe from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen, Smothered Rabbit. The recipe was très simple – pan fry the rabbit, make a dark rous with the leftover oil and flour, add a bit of celery and onion, and mix it all into a boiling pot of stock. So off to the store I went to pick up the vegetables, along with a little TurboDog and Dixie beers to round out the perfect Cajun meal.

On the way back from the store, I decided instead of serving this with white rice or mashed potatoes as suggested, I would whip up a bit of dirty rice instead, which was out – of – this – world! (more…)

Filed under:
Cajun & Creole, Comfort food, Dairy free, Dinner, Gourmet by Courtney