Dirty, Dirty Rice {and the last of Gretna Fest}

~~~~~*****~~~~~

Happy Birthday to my dad!

~~~~~*****~~~~~

I wasn't a picky eater as a child, but there were a few things I avoided.

Like Dirty Rice.  I mean, why was the rice dirty?
Did someone not wash their hands?  Drop the food on the floor?

Honestly, does it really matter how the rice got dirty?

Somewhere along the way I learned that dirty rice is dirty because of the browned bits of meat mixed in with the rice.  And I was ok with that.

Until I learned that dirty rice doesn't just have meat in it...there's liver and sometimes gizzards floatin' around in there.  That's the kind of thing I'd rather not ask questions about.  Rather not know.

So my dirty rice is dirty.  As in a dirty trick.  Dirty rice that has bacon drippings and ground pork to give porkiness and richness that livers and such usually add.   Down and dirty, Dirty Rice.

Something else down and dirty is my favorite blues musician, Tab Benoit.

 Usually I feature Cajun & Creole music here.  While Tab Benoit is a blues musician, he's also from Houma, LA.  You can't take Cajun out of a bayou boy.

He has a way of weaving New Orleans funk, Zydeco, and Cajun sounds, themes, and lyrics into the blues.

One of my favorites is Fever for the Bayou.  I love the lyrics:
Got the fever for the bayou
Muddy waters take me home...

Down the Mississippi River, to the Gulf of Mexico.
Oh where I find my Cajun babe, and I dance a zydeco.

He opened with Fever for the Bayou at Gretna Fest 2013.  I was as giddy as a schoolgirl in pigtails.


The last day of Gretna Fest was a fine day.  Good weather, Saints on the big screen next to the stage (winning), and Tab Benoit singing on the banks of the Mississippi.

Another of my favorites:
Sac-au-lait Fishing

Again, I identify with the lyrics
There's something in the water that's callin' my name



More Tab Benoit
More Gretna Fest
And some more Gretna Fest

Print It!

(Dirty) Dirty Rice

1 ½ c white rice, cooked (can be made ahead)
½ Tbsp bacon drippings
½ lb ground beef
½ lb ground pork
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 hot pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
½-3/4 c beef broth
¾-1 tsp salt, or to taste
½ tsp black pepper, or to taste
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 green onions, chopped and divided

Add the bacon drippings to a wide cast iron or stainless steel pot set on medium high heat.  When hot, add the beef and pork.  Cook until meat is well browned and sticking to the bottom of the pan (about 8-10 minutes).  Add the vegetables and sauté for a minute or two.  Add ½ cup broth.  Stir the broth and vegetables, using them to pull the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Stir in the salt, black pepper, and cayenne.  Lower the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes to soften the vegetables.  Stir in the rice and 2/3 of the green onion.  Add more broth if the mixture seems dry.  Heat through and taste for seasoning.  Before serving, top with the remaining green onion.
Serves 4 as a main dish.

Linking with:

Perch Spaghetti

Summer fishing is lazy.

 

On slow bayous carpeted with duckweed and water hyacinth (which, while pretty, is a horribly invasive plant).

Worms, bobbers, cane poles, and "perch jerkin'."

Maybe a little bit of action from a catfish or alligator gar.

The Boy caught this juvenile gar.

Even a small one has nasty teeth.

But for the most part, summer fishing is quiet, calm.  Perch (bream or sun perch) aren't big fighters.  Often, they hook themselves.

These pictures show pretty, serene places.

But I could have just as easily snapped photos of litter.  A secluded boat launch turned into a dump site for old furniture, tires, worm containers, other assorted junk and trash.  Instead of moving to get a better view, I could have left the trash floating in the water in the shot.  Beer cans, water bottles, a Doritos bag.  I chose to leave these things out.  Maybe I shouldn't have.  Maybe I should have shown the dirty truth.

Nothing burns me up more than when people jack with our wetlands.  It's something that's been on my mind a lot lately.  Something that keeps me up at night.  Something I wake up at night thinking about.  There are so many things negatively impacting --destroying-- Louisiana's wetlands.  Litter and illegal dumping is only a very small part.  But it's a part that creates more of itself.  It's too easy for people to look at the contents of a dumpster (or what should be in a dumpster) thrown at the water's edge and think what's one candy wrapper more?  Compared to other harder-to-manage issues like damage from dredging, drilling, and draining, litter is much more fixable.  It's not that hard to keep your trash to yourself.

***********

September's Pantry Party theme is "Fish."  

My pantry ingredients were:
onion, garlic, chicken broth, and spaghetti.

***********

This is my dad's recipe.  

He makes a similar dish with oysters.

Print It

Perch Spaghetti
from my dad

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
Tony's Creole Seasoning
garlic powder
1 lb perch fillets
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, finely chopped
2 banana peppers (or a small bell pepper), finely chopped
3/4 cup chicken broth
4 servings cooked spaghetti
handful cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp chopped green onion
salt & pepper, to taste

Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium.  Season the fish with Tony's and garlic powder.  When the oil/butter is hit, add the fish and cook through.  Remove fillets from the pan and keep warm.  Add the onion, garlic, celery, and pepper.  Saute until tender.  Add chicken broth to the pan and simmer for about 8 minutes.  Toss in the cooked spaghetti and the cherry tomatoes and coat with the sauce.  Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.  Divide the spaghetti onto 4 plates.  Divide the fish between the plates, placing on top of the spaghetti.  Garnish with chopped green onion.


Linking with:

Fall

I hesitate to say it's Fall down here, but what the heck.   We've had a couple of cool spells, though we'll approach the 90s again and again before the year's over.

Maybe it's better this way.  The dips and rises instead of one continuous plunge into the damp and chilly cliff dive into winter.  Each dip is like a brand new Fall.

Bright side, people.  Let's overlook the fact that we have to keep a full year's wardrobe at the ready.  And that our heating and cooling systems develop personality disorders.

Hunting season started a few weeks ago.  That makes it officially, 100% Fall in Sportsman's Paradise.

My dad gave us some ground venison (among other critters).  Clearing out his freezer for the new hunting season.

I knew right away it would be meatballs

with a chunky, roux-based

Creole style gravy.

The cooler temps are an ideal time to stand over a pot stirring hot roux and to warm the house with a slow-simmering pot of gravy.

Besides hunting, another activity guiding Fall our way is the biggest Cajun & Creole music festival around.

Isn't this tree awesome?

La Place des Petits for face-painting, story time, and crafts for kids 

Record crowd this year

The Boy's favorite, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys performing a Creole tune from the Carriere brothers: Madame Faille



 A band I enjoyed, Cedric Watson and Bijou Creole.  Check out the frottoir (rubboard) player, Desiree Champagne--she's something else!


Printer Friendly

*Note: I like to add ground beef or pork since venison can be dry.  It also helps cut the "gaminess" if the venison is strong.

Venison Meatballs in Creole Gravy

For the meatballs:
1 lb ground venison
1 lb ground pork or beef
about 2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
6 Tbsp milk

vegetable oil to cover the bottom of you pot

For the gravy:
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
flour
drippings from cooking meatballs
1 (10 oz) can Ro-tel
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato paste
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
2 shakes Tony's Creole Seasoning (about 1 tsp)

cooked spaghetti

Making the meatballs:
Venison can be dry, so I like to cut it with ground beef or pork.  Combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs, working the mixture as little and as lightly as possible.  Adjust consistency if needed by adding more breadcrumbs or milk.  Make a patty with about 1/2 tablespoon of the mixture.  Heat oil in a large pot, such as a Dutch oven.  Cook the patty and taste for seasoning.  Adjust if needed.  Form the remaining mixture into meatballs and brown in the hot oil, turning to brown evenly.  Remove from the pot and refrigerate until gravy is ready.

Making the gravy:
Measure the meatball drippings.  You'll need about 3-4 tablespoons.  If you don't have enough, add more vegetable oil.  In the same pot you used for the meatballs, heat the oil over medium heat.  Sprinkle in flour to equal the amount of oil.  Cook, constantly stirring, until the roux is a coppery, peanut butter color.  Immediately add the chopped vegetables.  Cook until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

Add all of the tomato products and the seasonings.  Also add 2 tomato paste cans of water.  Stir to dissolve the tomato paste and incorporate the vegetables and roux.  Simmer for about 40 minutes.

Add the meatballs to the gravy and simmer another 20 minutes.  Serve over spaghetti.

Serves 12.  Freezes well.


Linking this week with:

Food On Friday: Marvelous Meatballs @ Carole's Chatter