Rice and gravy

Down here in south Louisiana, lots of people make what they call "rice and gravy." After eating it at church supper recently, and after cleaning out my deep freezer only to find lots of uneaten deer meat and wild pork, I decided it was time to try my hand at "rice and gravy." It can be made a few different ways, but the final result is a dark brown meaty, flavorful, and somewhat salty gravy that you serve over rice.
I wanted mine to have a different taste than my jambalaya, which is often made with similar veggies and spices.

To make the rice and gravy, I dug out a large cast iron pot from our shed- at least 1 gallon capacity and heated it on medium/high heat on the stove. I cut the deer steak and wild pork into bite size pieces and threw them into the hot pot with minced garlic, Tony Chacheries, garlic powder, and garlic pepper. I browned the meat just on the outside and removed it from the pot, leaving any meat drippings in the pot. Then I added enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot, and enough flour to make the oil into a thin paste (making a roux). I stirred that paste for what seemed like forever on medium heat until it turned the color of a dirty penny. Then I threw in about 1.5 cups of the frozen seasoning mix (chopped onions, bell peppers, and celery), more minced garlic, more Tony's, some Cavenders, garlic powder again, onion powder, and some salt and pepper. Then I added probably 3 quarts of water- enough to make the gravy liquidy and not burn. I put the lid on and let it simmer for a LONG time- 2 hours, or until the meat became tender.
At the end, I mixed up about 4 tbsp of flour and 1 tbsp corn starch with some cold water to make a paste, and then added it to the gravy to thicken it.
After about 2-3 hours of cooking, it tasted soooo good over rice!


Tara Marie Photography
www.taramariephoto.com
facebook.com/taramariephotography
Phone/email: 8:30-5:30 M-F
Shoot/meeting hours: M,W,F 8:30-5:30, Tues,Thurs 7-7:30, Sat 2-5:30 in St Francisville