Dirty Rice

PROFESSIONAL AT WORK. DO NOT TRY THIS ALONE!

Okay, the disclaimer's out of the way.

I got to thinking about dirty rice a couple of months ago and began saving the livers from the chickens I was cooking for the boys (that's Scooper and Pupkiss, our King Charles Spaniels (for them'uns among you who don't already know that)). The chickens seem to lack livers more often than not, but I did manage to accumulate 3 of them.

I am proud of how I have been able to clean house as concerns the freezer compartment of our fridge. Today's lunch used up: a container of cooked duck liver, the 3 chicken livers, and a package of cooked turkey gizzards. From the fridge came leftover cooked basmati rice. From the pantry came dried shiitake mushrooms, two skinny dried red peppers, and a tiny bit of dried sun-dried tomatoes (isn't that somehow redundant?).

Don't try to copy this recipe. Rather, inventory your own stockpile of goodies you've waited far too long to use up. What follows is merely a roadmap. Find your own rest stops and choose your own tourist attractions along the way. Oh my god, was that a metaphor?

Dirty Rice
3 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers, any color
1 cup chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
4 oz. cooked turkey gizzards, trimmed of gristle
3 chicken livers, finely chopped
1 duck liver, already cooked and chopped
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 oz. dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted and sliced, liquid reserved
2 Mexican red chiles, reconstituted, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
1 tbsp butter

Heat the oil in a sauté pan. Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, mushrooms, scallions and some salt and pepper. Cook until softened and fragrant, about 6-7 minutes.

Move the vegetation to the side of the pan and add the chicken livers, cooking just until no longer pink. Add the gizzards, duck liver, and the liquid from reconstituting the u-know-whats.

Add the rice. Stir to combine, bring to a simmer, and watch until all the liquid is absorbed.

Add the butter and toss until melted.

Serve in heated bowls, adding salt and pepper to taste.

For a free excerpt of my book, “A Year of Food,” in which I opine, report, cook, muse and philosophize about everything that passed my lips for an entire year, write to me at: scrout1944@msn.com.