Cajun Dirty Rice - my recipe

 

The original recipe comes from A Pinch of Nom, and calls for the rice to be pre-cooked in water with a chicken stock cube added.  I do it a different way:

One good size onion, chopped

Half a smallish courgette, chopped

A good handful of frozen mushrooms (about 4 medium fresh ones)

I used frozen red pepper, but try half a smallish one, chopped

Half a big carrot, grated

About 4 oz (115 g) beef mince but you can use more if you like, I'm being frugal  If veggie, just leave out and put more/different veg in.

About three tablespoons of frozen peas (I just pour until satisfied!)

I added some frozen cherry tomatoes I grew last year - the titchy ones - but you could chop up a couple of larger tomatoes

Beef stock cube 

1 pint boiling water

2 teaspoons of Cajun seasoning (note to self, add to shopping list as mine is 3 yrs out of date now!!)

A good glug of Worcestershire sauce

4 oz (generous half a cup - my rice scoop is 1/4 cup) Basmati rice - but I only had easy cook Long Grain rice in the cupboard

A little oil

                                         *            *           *

Brown off mince and set in a bowl on one side.  Fry chopped onions, and add courgette, mushrooms, pepper after a few minutes.  Fry until softened, and add cherry tomatoes, and carrot. Put mince into pan with veg.  Add Cajun seasoning and Worcs sauce.  Stir well and cook for a couple minutes more and then add rice, and stir.  Add stock and peas, and turn up to boil, before dropping it back down to a steady simmer.  It's ready when rice has absorbed all the liquid.  I love my rice dishes and make this regularly.

Well, the cats decided I was a slug-a-bed and started nagging me at 5.30 this morning.  I finally got up at 6, and then Pippi was nagging me to go out.  It was dark and raining, and I kept telling her no, and she kept on yowling until I finally gave in as it was getting lighter outside.  Yesterday I had the first Bank Vole of the season, very vocal, and I managed to rescue it using the broad yoghurt pot with a foil lid which had been my breakfast the previous day.  Pippi didn't notice I had rescued it and she and Lulu sat by the kitchen bookcase half the morning hoping it would appear again.  Then she went out and came back with a died-in-the-night Robin.  Poor soul.  I took the little corpse out and put it under the Christmas tree on a nest of grass.

I need to get back to Elderberry Bunny's bonnet today.  I have been too tired the last few evenings to work on it.  I need to go to the Vets on my way to the Garden Centre, as Alfie has a tapeworm - hence weightloss and starey coat and he is the one who is sick now and again.  They are wormed when they have the wormer/flea combo but clearly this needs a specialist wormer.  He is the one who grabs the meeces and voles from Pippi and eats them - she doesn't seem interested once they are dead.

Right, time for some breakfast and I need to put the wheeliebin out whilst I remember.  After this they are going from a two week collection to three . . . just for wheeliebins, the recycling is still weekly.