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Since Thanksgiving is one week away, it’s time to clean out the fridge, polish the silver and make sure the linen tablecloth you use several times a year is clean and pressed.
Last week, I provided a recipe for chestnut stuffing and instructions on how to roast a turkey perfectly. Now it’s time for the delicious sides that enhance our native, North American bird.
Growing up, we never ate mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. My grandmother would make potato balls that she would pile high like a pyramid. They are made from grated raw potatoes, matzo meal, eggs, salt and pepper. The potato balls are simmered like matzo balls. Along with these savory treats, we enjoyed candied sweet potatoes, or yams. I got to thinking about an unusual starch side dish and asked my friend Chef Christopher Thames for some inspiration. He gave me his recipe for Dirty Rice. I adore dirty rice because I love chicken livers. I instinctively thought the use of turkey liver would be too strong. Chris agreed.
“It’s too gamey,” he said.
Chris has a specific method when making dirty rice, so he arrived in my kitchen to show me exactly how to prepare this side dish.
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“I grew up eating pork liver,” Chris said. “You can also use dirty rice to stuff Cornish game hens.”
I had never seen a recipe for dirty rice that called for ground pork.
“If there’s no ground pork, it’s not dirty rice,” he said. “It adds flavor and texture.”
Do not turn your nose up at gizzards. Gizzards are the sacs at the end of chicken stomachs, but they have a meaty taste and texture. Chicken livers are a definite yes. Do not substitute veal or beef liver in the recipe.
“Dirty rice is a Cajun dish,” Chris said as he chopped and diced the holy trinity with the skill of a surgeon. “A red pepper adds color and a certain sweetness.”
I watched as Chris picked through the chicken livers.
“These are the freshest chicken livers I’ve seen in some time,” he said.
When I told him I always buy them fresh from Godshall’s in The Reading Terminal Market, Chris proclaimed “Those boys really know what’s fresh.”
The chicken livers and gizzards were sauteed in oil before they were pulsed in the food processor.
“I don’t like big pieces in my dirty rice,” Chris said. “Just pulse on and off until you get a rough chop.”
While the dirty rice simmered for 20 minutes,we talked about Thanksgiving dinner. Chris will celebrate with family in Langhorne.
“What do you think about collard greens with tomatoes and garlic?” I asked my Southern friend.
“Sounds good,” he said.
Chris Thames’s Dirty Rice
Ingredients:
Canola oil to coat the bottom of a four-quart pot
1/2 pound of chicken gizzards
1/2 pound of chicken livers
1/2 pound of ground pork
1 large onion, finely diced
2 stalks of celery, finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced
1 red pepper, finely diced
1 bunch of scallions, finely diced (reserve some green tops for garnish)
2 fat cloves of garlic, finely diced
2 tablespoons of Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon of dry mustard (I prefer Coleman’s)
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
3/4 cup long grain rice
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
2 cups of chicken stock
Directions:
Heat a four-quart pot over high heat. Add the oil. Add the chicken gizzards and chicken livers and sauté them for about eight to 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Place in the food processor, fitted with the steel blade, and pulse on and off for a rough chop.
Add the ground pork and sauté it for about eight to 10 minutes. Add the spices, vegetables and garlic. Sauté the mixture, scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. When the onion turns translucent, the vegetables are done.
Add the rice and sauté the mixture so the rice is evenly distributed. Add the butter and sauté until the butter melts. Add the chicken stock, bring the contents of the pot to a boil, lower to simmer, cover the pot and cook for exactly 20 minutes.
When ready to serve, garnish the dirty rice with chopped scallion.
Serves six to eight.
Note from Phyllis: You can purchase Tex Joy Cajun seasoning by calling 800-259-3400 or visiting www.texjoy.com. It is Chris’s favorite and is from Beaumont, Texas. SPR
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