Eggplant Dirty Rice Recipes

DIRTY RICE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, ground beef and chicken livers and cook, breaking the meat into small bits with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium heatproof bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Remove and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the Dutch oven. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and cook down, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the rice, oregano, smoked paprika, cayenne, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and cook about 30 seconds. Stir the cooked meat back in, then add the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover. Cook until the rice is tender and has absorbed the liquid, about 18 minutes.
• Remove from the heat. Remove and discard the bay leaves, stir in the scallions and season.

DIRTY RICE

Steps:

• Sear the meat: Season the block of sirloin -- no fancy shaping needed, just use it how it comes out of the tray from the grocery store -- with 1 teaspoon of salt on each side.
• In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke. Place the sirloin block in the skillet in one piece and let it sear until it really browns and caramelizes, 3 to 5 minutes. Then flip it and repeat, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Let it do its thing.
• Once the block of sirloin is well seared, chop it up in the pan with a metal spatula to sear the inside bits. Add the black pepper, cumin, and cayenne and stir well. Cook for a minute. Add the beer to deglaze the pan, and cook 1 minute longer, scraping up any browned bits. Remove from the heat and set aside. At this point, you could freeze the meat.
• Make the gravy: In a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat, make a dark roux using the oil and flour, about 45 minutes. Once it's the color of milk chocolate, add the onion, bell pepper, and celery and stir together. Cook for a minute. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the beer and mix well. In 1/3-cup increments, add the stock, stirring well between each addition. Stir frequently, but not continuously, until you have a well emulsified gravy, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Once the gravy is done, add the cooked beef. Add a splash of stock to the meat pan to deglaze to get the remaining "junk" out -- the delicious extra bits that stick to the pan -- and add to the gravy and meat. Bring the meat and gravy mixture back to a bare simmer. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours, or until the raw flour has all cooked out and the sauce has no chalky or floury flavor.
• To serve: Add the cooked rice, butter, and green onions to the meat gravy in the pot. Stir it all together over low heat, just to warm it all through. Add salt to taste and serve.

EGGPLANT AND RICE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat.
• Sauté onion and garlic 3-4 minutes or until onion is softened.
• Stir in next 4 ingredients (eggplant, tomato, bay leaf & thyme) and mix thoroughly.
• Cover saucepan and simmer 3 minutes.
• Stir in remaining ingredients (rice & chicken stock) and salt and pepper to taste and return to a boil.
• Immediately reduce heat to low.
• Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
• For vegetarian do not use Chicken stock.

EGGPLANT RICE DRESSING- CAJUN

Steps:

• Brown ground meat and drain well. Rinse with water if desired. Reduce heat and add eggplant, onions, bell peppers, garlic and green onions. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Add the broth and just a little water if needed so that it almost covers the mixture. Stir in seasoning and bring mixture to a boil. Simmer stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes or until it has reached a desirable consistency. I like to have some liquid left in the bottom when I add the rice.
• Stir in cooked rice until well mixed and the remaining liquid has absorbed into the rice as much as you want. Serve hot as a side dish or a main dish.
• Note: For those who like lots of heat this is great served with tabasco or other hot sauce or even a sauce piquant! Ces' si bon!

RICE WITH EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan. Add the onions, the garlic and the eggplant. Cook briefly, stirring, until wilted.
• Add the rice and stir to blend. Add the bay leaf, the water and the pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, stirring, cover tightly and simmer for 17 minutes.
• Uncover, remove the bay leaf and stir with a fork to fluff.

ELSIE'S EGGPLANT DIRTY RICE

Steps:

• 1. Start rice cooking in a small sauce pan.
• 2. While the rice is cooking, on medium to medium high temperature, in a medium sized (10-12") cast iron skillet place oil. When the oil is heated (not smoking), add chopped onion and saute. After the onions are slightly cooked, reduce heat to medium and add ground beef (or turkey) to cook. Do not over-stir.
• 3. ** Peeling the eggplant is optional. Since posting this recipe, I often leave the peeling on the eggplant for extra fiber/nutrition. Chop the eggplant into approximately 1/2" size pieces and add to meat when it is about three-fourths of the way cooked. Cover mixture and let it continue cooking on medium heat until the eggplant is tender. Again, do not over-stir.
• 4. When the rice is cooked, stir in approximately 2 cups of the cooked rice to the eggplant and meat mixture. Add chopped/crushed garlic, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cover and continue cooking on LOW heat for approximately 10-15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

TEETA'S EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) DIRTY RICE

Steps:

• Peel and cube eggplant, boil 10 minutes and drain.
• Melt butter in heavy large dutch oven.
• Saute onion, garlic, celery, peppers until soft, add ground meat and cook until meat is done.
• Add eggplant to meat mixture and mash.
• Cook meat/eggplant mixture an additional 15-20 minutes.
• Add salt and peppers (adjust for taste) Then fold in rice and green onions in meat mixture.
• Turn off heat and let steam for 30 minutes.
• Fold in parsley just before serving.

EGGPLANT DIRTY RICE DRESSING

Steps:

• 1. Soak cut eggplant in salt water for 10 minutes (this will keep eggplant from turning dark).
• 2. Put oil in bottom of heavy bottomed pot. Saute onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic in oil until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add Ground Round and cook until meat begins to brown.
• 3. Drain eggplant, and add to meat mixture. Smother down covered until eggplant is well cooked. (Eggplant will be completely mashed up when done). Stir often and scrape the bottom of pot with your spoon to lift off any that may be starting to stick. Add 1 teaspoon of Louisiana Hot sauce Taste, adjust seasoning to your taste. Stir in Chopped green onions and parsley. Cook for only a few minutes longer. Remove from heat.
• 4. Add the cooked rice, stir to mix completely. Serve hot. Note: at anytime if the mixture becomes to dry to finish cooking the eggplant down, then add a small amount of water.