Dirty Rice

Dirty Rice

I was looking online for a rice, sausage, and beans dish and stumbled upon a Dirty Rice recipe by the Neelys on Food Network. It looked easy, quick, and I had all the ingredients. But I’m sure you noticed that I have to add my own touch to recipes. The Neelys’ recipe didn’t have beans and I switched out a few of the ingredients. Instead of the pork sausage they used, I used buffalo hot dogs from Lakevew Buffalo Farm. I tried the hot dogs earlier in the summer and really liked them; they’re more like brats or sausages than hot dogs and a lot healthier too, probably. Here is what I had.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked rice
2.5 cups of stock (2 cups for the rice and .5 cups or so for the “sauce”)
1/2 large onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (large, finely diced)
1 red bell pepper (diced)
2 buffalo hot dogs
1 can of black beans
greens, scallions (optional, for garnish; I used a bunch of cilantro)
Olive oil, salt, pepper, ground chipotle, ground cumin to taste

Steps:
1. Cook the rice according to directions, substituting the chicken stock for water
2. Slice the sausage on the diagonal and brown in a bit of olive oil. Regulate the amount of oil based on how much fat is in the sausage.
3. Once the sausage is browned, add the onion and brown it. Then add garlic.
4. Add the bell pepper. If there is no liquid in the pan, add a little bit of the stock. Cover with a lid and let cook for about 5 minutes or till the pepper is crisp-tender.
5. Add the beans and spices.
6. Add the rice to the sausage mixture.
7. Add greens (optional).

Sausage, beans, bell pepper

Dirty Rice is Done!

Pickles

Pickles in a jar

I’ve been meaning to write about pickles for quite some time now but have been completely swamped with a few other projects.  But these are a staple in my kitchen in the summer and I’d recommend you try these.  This is the easiest recipe for pickles.  I also recently found out that people can be allergic to commercially produced pickles and those advised to steer clear of vinegar also can’t consume store-bought pickles.  My version is vinegar-free.  That’s right.  No vinegar.  The pickles are still crunchy and spicy.

In the picture, you see about 2 pounds of pickles in a 1-liter jar.

Ingredients:
2 LB pickles
1 Liter of water
1 TB salt
Garlic (cut in half, to taste, and I like a lot, so I used about 1/2 of a garlic head)
Dill (a bunch, as much as will fit into the jar)
1 red bell pepper (optional)
black peppercorns (a handful; and I forgot to add these and the pickles still turned out OK).

Steps:
1. Arrange the dry ingredients in the jar. I like to place the pickles standing up and then sprinkle the garlic and the dill around, placing the peppers into available spaces between the pickles. But you do what you like. For this jar, I just kept staking them and adding more dill between the layers.
2. Mix the salt with water. I like to boil the water first and then add the salt. I use this hot/warm water to pour over the pickles. I think it helps the process start quicker, but I didn’t experiment with the cold water. You can certainly try this with cold water.
After a few days, place in the fridge and the pickles are ready to eat in about 5 days. At this time, they’ll be “half-pickled”, so I just keep them in the fridge or on the counter for another week. They’re perfect for my taste then, if they’re not all gone after “sampling”.
Enjoy!