Dirty Rice

     One of my dad's favorite dishes has always been dirty rice with a side of cornbread. After he retired and had time on his hands he would spend days in the kitchen cooking. Though a good bit of what my dad cooked was from scratch he however would buy some items prepackaged and one of those was the little boxes of dirty rice at the store and he would just add the hamburger then top it with some cheese. 
     Since we gave up processed foods in our house and because my hubby is extremely picky, I had not thought of making dirty rice in a long time, that is until recently. My middle son who is in the Army and his family were getting ready to come home on leave which meant 6 extra mouths to feed on a budget! So, I started to try and come up with meals that that fit into our new prepackaged free lifestyle and could be easily doubled to feed a small army without breaking the bank! Because one of my son's favorite meals that his pap used to make for him was dirty rice, it dawned on me, I bet it would be easy to make from scratch! So set out to come up with a recipe that would remind my son of his pap's dirty rice but without the box. It took a few tries but I finally came up with one that even my extremely picky husband loves and I am sure my dad would love too. 

 Keep in mind though when cooking this dish to make sure you keep an eye on it so the rice doesn't stick and burn which can happen quickly if you aren't using a nonstick pan or cast iron.  Also you can make it your taste, if you like a dryer rice use less liquid, if you like moister rice you can use more liquid, which is why I recommend starting with 2 1/2 cups of beef broth instead of the full 3 cups and adding as you go. Also if you want to keep it a little more traditional you can skip the cheese. This recipe serves 4 but can be easily doubled to feed your small army if you have one. I hope you enjoy!


Ingredients 

1lb of ground meat browned and drained
1 medium onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 Tablespoons of  EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup of uncooked white rice
2 1/2 to 3 cups of beef broth
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
2 teaspoons of  Chili powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of shredded cheese (I used New York Sharp White Cheddar)

First in a large pan on medium heat add your EVOO when hot add your onion, green pepper and garlic; saute till for about 5 min. Meanwhile in a skillet brown your ground meat and drain. Then add to your pan with the onions, peppers and garlic then add the salt, cumin and chili powder. Next add 2 1/2 cups of beef broth bring to a boil then add the rice let boil for about 5 minutes then turn down the heat to low and cover to allow the rice to absorb the liquid; about 20 to 25 minutes, make sure to check occasionally and add a little bit of broth if needed till the rice is fully cooked and all the liquid is absorbed. When done cooking remove pan from heat uncover and sprinkle the shredded cheese on top the rice and beef mixture and allow to melt; then serve.

I promise to put up daddy's cornbread recipe soon but shhhh don't tell him I tweaked it a little with some sugar but that's a story for another time.