I have long had a fascination with Cajun food and culture, probably stemming from my old keyboard teacher who gave me a few books of Cajun sheet music to practice. I never managed to stick with the keyboard, but I kept the love of Cajun food and music. Over the years, I've collected a whole bunch of Cajun cookbooks, and despite some difficulty in finding a few of the ingredients, I cook from them every so often. My stand-by favorites are Jambalaya and Gumbo, with the occasional blackened catfish and shrimp étouffée.

This week I decided to try my hand at Dirty Rice, which I've made before but never with chicken livers. I'm not particularly fond of liver, but I decided to try it this time. It adds to the flavor of the dish, but to be honest it's still not my favorite.

Recipe for Dirty Rice

Serves: a bunch
Time: not very much

Ingredients

• 400g rice
• 1L chicken stock
• bay leaf
• 200g sausage meat
• 200g chicken livers
• 3 stalks celery
• 1-2 green bell peppers
• 2-3 onions
• Worcestershire sauce/hot sauce (optional to taste)
• parsley
• salt pepper

Preparation

1. Cook the rice in chicken stock with the bay leaf, until just done.
2. Chop the celery, bell peppers and onion into small pieces, or whatever size you desire.
3. Fry the sausage meat and chicken livers until the meat is browned and the livers are pink.
4. Add the vegetables, and sauté until soft (optionally adding the sauces).
5. Mix in the drained rice and chopped parsley. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
6. Enjoy with a nice warm cornbread muffin.