Granny’s Rice Dressing

“I cherish a multitude of memories about my Granny. My father’s mother hosted every Christmas dinner of my life until I turned 28 and attended a few more before she passed. She baked the best birthday cakes with pecan icing, fed me throughout my time in college when every home-cooked meal seemed like a luxury, and created some of the most spectacular Sunday suppers I’ve ever tasted.

Granny never cooked anything fancy. She didn’t revolutionize Cajun cuisine, and she most certainly did not stop at medium rare when broiling a steak, but there are a few things Granny made that will forever live in my heart. For instance, Granny stewed the best pot of squirrels and gravy, but we can save that for another day. Her rice dressing rocked my world.

The combination of chicken livers and gizzards along with ground pork gave the rice a flavor that I couldn’t, as a kid, identify other than as yummy. Now I realize what a great recipe Granny had. Most of the time we ate the dirty rice as a side item, but occasionally Granny would stuff the dirty rice into hollowed-out green bell peppers and bake them. No matter how we consumed the tantalizing mixture, there was always room for seconds.” – Jay D. Ducote

Granny’s Rice Dressing
Serves 8
A fantastic Rice Dressing recipe using authentic Cajun ingredients.
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Ingredients
  1. 1 pound chicken livers
  2. 1 pound chicken gizzards
  3. 1 tablespoon canola oil
  4. 1 pound lean ground pork
  5. 1 tablespoon butter
  6. 2 medium onions, chopped
  7. 3 stalks celery, chopped
  8. 1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  9. 3 cloves garlic, minced
  10. 5 cups water, divided
  11. 3 teaspoons salt, divided
  12. 2 cups long-grain white rice
  13. 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  14. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  15. Garnish: sliced green onion tops and chopped parsley
Instructions
  1. In the work bowl of a food processor, add chicken livers and gizzards; pulse until ground, and set aside.
  2. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat; add canola oil. Add liver mixture and ground pork, and cook until browned. Pour off excess oil, and add butter.
  3. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic, and cook 5 minutes. Add 1 cup water, and simmer, covered, 5 minutes more. Uncover, and continue cooking until water evaporates.
  4. Add 2 teaspoons salt and remaining 4 cups water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Add rice; stir, and return to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Fold rice mixture from bottom to top, cover, and cook until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes more. Season with remaining 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Serve hot, garnished with green onion and parsley, if desired.
Louisiana Cookin' https://louisianacookin.com/

5 COMMENTS

  1. My mama used just, celery. Onions ,chicken liver white rice cream of chicken soup .and oysters. Figure out how she put it together. It was fire!!!!

  2. I love the simplicity of the recipe. My grammar was the same way. Give her anything in the kitchen, and some salt and pepper and you had a feast. Gotta love our Louisiana roots!

  3. My “Gee-Geet” Ducote made the best rice dressing ever! She would bury some oysters on top for good measure:) I make it but with ground meat instead of liver. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

  4. This is what I do.. Thanksgiving week on Monday .. make a big pot of red beans with rice..enough rice to have left over Wednesday before thanksgiving make giblet gravy .. the way I do it ..Friday or Saturday.. maybe even Monday fry my pork/pork sausage mix into gravy.. heat the leftover gravy mix with leftover rice straight from fridge add seasoning to make it more rice dressing-y ‍♀️bake til heated thru 350.. now you got dirty rice too!! It’s great.. I garauntee

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