Cajun Squirrel Dirty Rice Recipe
Use squirrel meat, including the heart and liver, to flavor this dirty rice.
Dirty rice is one of my favorite side dishes. The earthy flavor of the traditional chicken livers ties in nicely with the spicy Cajun seasoning blend. We have made the dish with chicken, chicken livers, smoked sausage, or just about any leftover meats that might be found in the fridge.
Serve the dirty rice as a flavorful side dish, or just eat a bowl as a complete meal.
The recipe is great with just about any meat, but one of the best is squirrel. Since you pre-cook the squirrel until tender then debone it, this is a great way to use up older squirrels that might be a little to tough to fry. You can simmer the squrrel all day in the slow cooker, or do like we did and cook it in the Instant Pot or similar pressure cookers. The pressure cooker method cuts the cooking time from all day to under a half-hour.
Simmer the mixture until the rice is tender.
You can make the recipe with just the squirrel meat and a couple of diced chicken livers, or you can really ratchet up the flavor by saving your squirrel hearts and livers for the dish.
Save the squirrel heart and liver for the dish to get even more flavor.
INGREDIENTS
Boned meat from two squirrels
Hearts and livers from two squirrels
1.5 cups of long grain and wild rice blend
1 yellow onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon ground thyme
2 bay leaves
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Cook the squirrel (not the hearts and livers) in either a slow cooker for 5-7 hours, or an Instant-Pot for 25 minutes. Allow to cool and strip the meat from the bones.
Dice the raw hearts and livers then set them aside. Give the pepper, onion and celery a rough chop.
Every good Cajun recipe starts with the trinity of bell pepper, onion, and celery.
In a large heavy pot over medium-high heat, saute the pepper, onion and celery for 7-10 minutes or until the onions are soft and cooked through. Add the garlic and diced hearts and livers. Cook another 3-5 miinutes.
Simmer the vegetables and squirrel meat until done.
Add the rice, stock, boned-out squirrel meat, and water. Add the Cajun seasoning and thyme. Stir well. Toss in the bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a low boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes until the rice is done. Fluff with fork before serving.
Realtree Cajun Seasoning give the recipe the perfect blend of flavor and heat.
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