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Newfangled Dirty Rice

5 from 1 vote
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Ingredients
  

For the Meat:

  • 1-pound lean ground sirloin
  • 2 tbsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp. grapeseed oil or other natural oil
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. cayenne
  • 1/3 cup amber beer

For the Gravy:

  • 1/4 cup grapeseed oil or other natural oil
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup green or red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup celery, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1/3 cup amber beer
  • 1 cup chicken broth, plus more if needed

For the Rice:

  • 1 1/2 cups jasmine or medium-grain white rice
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 bay leaf

For Serving:

  • 1/2 bunch scallions (green tops only), chopped

Instructions
 

To prepare the meat:

  • Season the sirloin, just use it how it comes out of the tray from the grocery store, with 1 tsp. salt on the top side.
  • In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke.
  • Place the sirloin in the skillet in one piece and let it sear until it browns and caramelizes; 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Then flip it, sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp. of salt and repeat, 3 to 5 minutes longer.
  • Once the block of sirloin is well browned, chop it up in the pan with a metal spatula so that the inside bits can be seared.
  • 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.

To prepare the gravy:

  • Start by making a dark roux.
  • Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over high heat until it just starts to smoke.
  • Add the flour and immediately start stirring with a long-handled spoon.
  • Stir constantly, scraping the bottom and edges well to keep the flour from burning.
  • Once it’s the color of milk chocolate, anywhere from 4 to 15 minutes (the most important thing to watch is the color of the roux and ignore the time), 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 chicken stock, stirring well between each addition.
  • Reduce heat to low and stir frequently, but not continuously, until you have a well-emulsified gravy, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes.

To complete the preparation of the dirty rice:

  • Once the gravy is done, add the cooked beef.
  • Bring the meat and gravy mixture back to a bare simmer.
  • Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the sauce has no chalky flour flavor.

To prepare the rice:

  • While the gravy is cooking, put rice, 2 1/2 cups water, salt and bay leaf in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce the heat and bring to a bare simmer.
  • Stir, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Remove from the heat and let steam in the covered pan for another 10 minutes, until all water is absorbed.
  • Fluff with fork, spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve the newfangled dirty rice:

  • Add the cooked rice and scallions to the meat gravy in in the pot.
  • Stir all together over low heat, just to warm it all through.
  • Add salt, to taste, and serve.

Notes

Traditionally, dirty rice ingredients include chicken gizzards, chicken livers, andouille sausage, etc.  Since I am not a lover of any of those ingredients, I buy a good grade sirloin which I have ground by the store's butcher.  Thus, it is all newfangled but makes a delicious dirty rice.