Dirty Rice

This is Donald's aunt's recipe.  Aunt Jeannette is from Cottonport, LA (not far from where my dad is from) and she makes Dirty Rice when we have family gatherings.  It is easy to make and it is delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• ½ bell pepper, chopped
• 3 ribs of celery, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 2 lbs. of Savoie or Richard’s Dressing Mix
• 1 can of French onion soup
• 2 cans of chicken broth
• 2 T. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• 4 T. Crystal hot sauce
• ½ C. chopped fresh parsley
• 6 C. cooked rice

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven, heat the butter over medium-high heat and sauté onions, bell peppers, and celery until limp
2. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute
3. Brown the ground pork, then add the dressing mix and cook for 10 minutes
4. Add chicken broth, French onion soup, Tony’s and hot sauce cook for 1 hour
5. Add parsley and rice and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes
6. Serve hot!

Tips and Tricks:

• Cooking the rice the day before helps.  It dries out a bit and that’s how you want it.  If you do cook it the day you make the dirty rice be sure it is cooled before you use it.
• When you add the rice to the liquid mixture, it looks like it will never dry out enough to eat, but just be patient.  It usually takes 20 minutes, but sometimes you need to let it simmer longer.
• Sometimes I use the Creole Seasoning in the produce section at the grocery.  It has onions, bell peppers, celery, parsley, and garlic all in one container.  I use a large container, or about 3 C.
• You can freeze any leftovers for use at a later date.