Recipe: Cajun Country Creole Rice Casserole

Another from those weird Cajuns.

“If there’s anything King Culinary enjoys doing, it’s making a roux and cooking with wine. He likes to make a roux because it afford him the opportunity to sip a few cool ones while he stirs and stirs and stirs to get the roux a golden brown. And he enjoys cooking with wine because then he has the bottle handy for a few sips from it, too, and the Queen can’t raise a Royal Ruckus because he has a perfectly legitimate excuse for having the bottle there. And when it comes to wimmen, even Kings need an excuse now and then.” —John and Glenna Uhler, Royal Recipes from the Cajun Country (1969)

Recipe below.

 

CAJUN COUNTRY CREOLE RICE CASSEROLE

4 Tbsp (½ stick) butter

1 C onion, chopped fine

½ C bell pepper, chopped fine

½ C celery, chopped fine

½ C shallots, chopped fine

1 lb sausage (preferably homemade—see recipes in Meats section)

3 C cooked rice

3 oz mushrooms, chopped coarse (drained if canned)

1 C tomato juice (or use Spicy V-8 for a spicier dish)

½ tsp Tabasco (or more, to taste)

1 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp chili sauce (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

1 tsp Accent

Salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 350^o. Melt butter in an iron skillet, add onion, bell pepper, celery, and shallots, and cook over low heat until vegetables are tender. Add sausage and cook, stirring often, until meat is browned well. Add rice and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until rice is browned. Add mushrooms, tomato juice, Tabasco, sugar, chili sauce, Accent, and salt and pepper to taste, and mix well. Place mixture in a lightly greased casserole dish and bake 30 minutes.