Hi Friends, Today I wanted to share with you one of our family favorites, Creole Dirty Rice. We have actually been referring to this dish as “Cajun” Dirty Rice for a long time. And after many years of studying and following regional food groups I have learned that there is a distinction between the two. And that distinction is TOMATOES. In our home I started adding tomatoes years ago as a way to sneak more vegetables into my children’s food. The tomatoes add great color and flavor. I was not aware at the time that I was changing the type of dish it was all together.

This entire dish is cooked in a 6-quart Dutch oven. You will see in my video that I use an enameled cast iron Dutch oven. You will also see that I am using my first ever enameled cast iron Dutch oven that I purchased years ago. It is some random “no name” brand and it is still going strong. I will be the first to admit that I have a huge crush on Le Creuset and Staub. I will also tell you I still use my first ever “no name” Dutch oven and it works great. Buy what you can afford and enjoy it! Bruntmor makes a great affordable option available on Amazon Prime and the colors are so cheerful!

You will also see that I used a meat chopper to chop the ground beef and Andouille sausage unto small pieces. I love this type of tool for a rice dish like this. It helps the meat be evenly distributed throughout the entire dish. OXO Good Grips makes one similar to mine.

I use fresh Andouille sausage in my Creole Dirty Rice. And I am aware that this is not something that is super easy for everyone to find in their local grocery store. With that in mind I created a simple recipe for bulk Andouille sausage that you can make at home with spices and ground pork. Another ingredient I like to use is my own Homemade Cajun Seasoning Blend. I do this in an effort to control the amount of salt in the dish. It helps balance the overall seasoning of the dish. You can make it ahead and store it in an airtight containter to use anytime. This recipe will be posted below.

Smoked Salt

You will notice that in my recipe for Homemade Andouille Sausage I use SMOKED SALT. I know this seems like a super specific ingredient to find and your grocery store may not carry it. Well I wanted to make this easy and fun for you at the same time. Amazon has some wonderful varieties of Smoked Salt to choose from, but this is one of my favorites. However, in addition to that, we are going to have a contest!

Creole Dirty Rice Contest Time

Since SMOKED SALT & the OXO MEAT CHOPPER are specialized items that you may not have in your kitchen. I thought I would GIVE THEM TO YOU! There are a few techniques and tips that really make Creole Dirty Rice really flavorful and delicious. So, when I filmed the video for this recipe, I highlighted 3 TIPS for making this dish EXTRA DELICIOUS.

CONTEST RULES

Watch my video on Creole Dirty Rice
Find my 3 tips for making the dish extra flavorful and delicious
Direct Message me on Facebook/Instagram or email me the 3 tips to enter one time. We don’t want the 3 tips posted publicly (this will give them away)
To enter multiple times. Share this post on Social Media and tag 3 friends that don’t know about At Lara’s Table. (you will be entered in the drawing 3 more times)
These friends can enter as well.
Contest open to anyone that wants to watch video and send me tips via DM, email, and share post via social media.
Contest runs from Post going live Tues Feb 18, 2020- Friday Feb 21,2020 at 5pm

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Creole Dirty Rice

This zesty one pot meal is a crowd pleaser! Come take a trip to Southern Louisiana with Creole Dirty Rice tonight!

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Servings 8

Ingredients

1 lb andouille sausage links or homemade andouille my recipe linked in blog post
1 lb 80/20 ground beef
1 large onion diced
1 orange or red bell pepper diced
salt
1 14.6 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups jasmine rice rinsed
3 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning my recipe linked in blog post

Instructions

Heat a 6 quart Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown ground meats one at a time. Remove sausage from the casing and brown. Allow the meat to remain on the first side for 4-5 minutes before moving. Your goal is to build the “fond” or browning on the bottom of the pan. This will build delicious flavor in your final dish. Once your meat has browned well on the first side begin to break the meat apart and move it around so it can cook through.
Once your sausage is finished cooking, remove it to a clean plate and repeat this process with your ground beef.
Once your ground beef is finished cooking, remove it to the same plate as the cooked ground pork.
Now add your diced onion and bell peppers to your pan. Sprinkle your vegetables with a couple pinches of salt. This will help sweat the moisture out of your vegetables.
After 2-3 minutes, add your diced tomatoes and Cajun seasoning.
Heat your chicken stock. I often use the microwave for this. (3-4 minutes is enough) Or you can heat it on the stove. Heating your stock helps insure your rice cooks more evenly in your final dish.
Once your vegetables and tomatoes are bubbling, use a flat ended wooden spoon to start to scrape the “fond” or “brown yummy goodness” off of the bottom of the pan.
Next, mix in your ground meats. Heat this mixture until it is bubbling again.
Mix in your rice. Make sure your dish is bubbling and add your warmed broth.
Once your entire dish is bubbling. Place lid on dish and reduce heat to a simmer.
Allow dish to cook on a low heat/simmer for 15 minutes
After 15 minutes, fluff with a fork and serve.

Please note: if you have little sensitive mouths in your house you can reduce the amount of cajun seasoning to 1-1/2 TBSP. Also, remember you can buzz your vegetables in a food processor or chop everything very fine if you have picky little people in your house.