Peel & chop the onion, medium. See our onion Tip. Also core & chop the green pepper. Top and tail the celery, cut into batons and chop. Place all three - the 'Holy Trinity' - in the same bowl and reserve. Peel & chop the garlic. See our garlic Tip. Set aside, separately from the vegetables. Skin the sausages, as we did for Sausage Pasta. Chop or break the sausagemeat into bite-sized pieces. Peel, then slice and chop the mushrooms. Top & tail the spring onions, remove the outer layer, then snip, quite finely, with scissors. Set both aside.
Heat a little groundnut oil in a large pan that has a lid, and set over a medium heat When the oil is hot, add the sausagemeat and fry, stirring, until evenly browned and the fat begins to run. Do not break the sausage up too much.
When the sausage is browned, add the 'Holy Trinity' vegetables, and stir for a few minutes until they just begin to soften, but still retain some bite.
Measure out the rice. Also measure out the stock, and place in a pan over a medium heat to warm.
Once the vegetables have started to soften, add the garlic, 2 tsps of the chilli powder, 1/2 tsp of the celery salt, plus the bay leaves, and stir to combine. Add the rice and stir well.
Now add the warmed stock and stir well again. Turn the heat up and bring just to the boil, then cover with the lid and turn the heat down. Simmer until the rice has soaked up all the liquid, about 20 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, prepare the garnish. Chop the sweet piquanté peppers. Place a good slug of groundnut oil in a second pan, large enough to comfortably hold all the mushrooms, and set over a medium heat.
When the oil is warm, add the mushrooms and fry, stirring, until the are well-browned and almost black in appearance - about 5 to 6 minutes. Only add more oil if the mushrooms stick.
When the mushrooms have browned, add the chopped sweet piquanté peppers and spring onions, keeping a few spring onions aside to garnish. Season with more chilli powder and celery salt, to taste. Stir to combine for a minute or two - it's better if the spring onions retain some bite.
When the rice looks cooked, test a few grains by biting into them. They should be tender and juicy, though the rice mixture should look fairly dry. Add the mushroom mixture, and stir well.
Serve immediately, garnished with the reserved spring onions. Dirty rice can be served alone as a main dish, or as a side. It's good topped with a fried egg, or served with simply cooked meat or game. Today we served it with our Cajun Coleslaw, for a little crunch - a good combination. See the coleslaw recipe here. Bon appétit!
