Creole Hoppin' John

Apologies for the lack of updates. We both had a pretty busy month, but we should be back to our regularly scheduled updates now.

adapted from Culinate.com's Creole Hoppin' Jean

Serves 6 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 1 hour • Active cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

3/4 cup black-eyed peas, sorted, soaked 8 hours, drained, and rinsed
½ cup short-grain brown rice
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup finely diced shallots
⅛ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. paprika
½ tsp. chile powder
¼ tsp. red chile flakes
⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. dried oregano
2 cups vegetable stock
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
~ Coarse sea salt
~ Freshly ground white pepper


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans. Return to a large pot and cover with 4 cups water.

2. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, and let simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. At this point, beans should be quite tender. Drain beans and set aside.

3. In a separate pan, boil 1.5 cups water. Add short-grain brown rice, return to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for approximately 20 minutes with a lid on. Stir occasionally.

4. Heat 1 TBSP oil in a skillet. Add the shallots, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, chile powder, red chile flakes, cayenne pepper, thyme, and oregano. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the shallots are soft, about 3 minutes.

5. Add vegetable stock, tomatoes, and 1 tsp. salt; bring to a boil. Add rice and black-eyed peas to the sauce and stir well. Return to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed, approximately 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and let sit with lid on, approximately 10 minutes.

Notes: This is a spicy dish associated with the Carolinas, but is eaten throughout the South. It is often eaten on New Year's Day and is thought to bring the eater good luck. If you aren't a fan of spicy foods, I'd recommend skipping this one.

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

adapted from More with Less' Puerto Rican Rice and Pigeon Peas

Serves 8 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 2 hours • Active cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 lb. dried pigeon peas, pinto, or kidney beans
4 cups water
3/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup fat
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups cabbage, finely chopped
1 tsp. oregano
1 tblsp. capers with juice
1 tblsp. salt
2 cups uncooked rice (I used short grain brown)
6 cups bean liquid and water


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans. Return to a large pot and cover with 4 cups water.

2. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, and let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. At this point, beans should be quite tender. Drain beans and set aside, reserving the remaining bean liquid.

3. Saute vegetables in 1/4 cup fat (I used olive oil). When veggies are tender, add tomato paste, spices, rice, and liquid. Stir well.

4. Cook at moderate heat 15 minutes. Stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until most of liquid is absorbed and rice is fully cooked (approximately 25 minutes).

Notes: All I can say about this recipe is: DELICIOUS! This recipe makes a lot of food. We have been eating it for lunch and dinner for days and I'm still not sick of it. It's strange, because it's so similar to other recipes we've made, but this one really is the best. I highly recommend it!

Mexican Beans and Rice

adapted from Rice of Life's Mexican Rice and Beans

Serves 4 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 2 hours • Active cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 red onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 cups dried pinto beans, sorted, rinsed, and soaked
2 cups brown rice
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
cilantro, chopped
wedge of lime
1/2 avocado, sliced
salt to taste


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans. Return to a large pot and cover with 6 cups water.

2. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, and let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. At this point, beans should be quite tender.

3. Saute onion in a little bit of oil until soft. Add green bell peppers and saute until soft. Add pinto beans, spices, and tomato sauce. Stir until everything is well mixed and there is a nice sauce for the beans. If necessary add small amounts of water to thin the sauce (in 1/4 cup increments). Add salt to taste and adjust spices, as necessary.

4. Serve over brown rice. Garnish with cilantro, lime wedge, and avocado.

Notes: This recipe sort of tasted to me like what pinto beans and mexican rice would taste like if you mixed them together. Very comforting and easy. We served them with tortillas on the side.

Chana Masala

adapted from Rice of Life's Chana Masala

Serves 4 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours+ • Passive cooking time: 20 minutes • Active cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil or ghee
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 small red onion, diced
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 lb dried (or 2 15 oz cans) garbanzo beans
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon
a few sprigs cilantro, chopped (for garnish)


Steps:

1. Rinse and sort the garbanzo beans and soak for at least eight hours. When beans have been rehydrated, drain and rinse with cold water.

2. In a large wok or skillet, heat olive oil or ghee at medium high heat. Add turmeric. Add onion and cook until golden brown and fragrant, about five minutes.

3. Add tomato paste, garam masala, ground coriander and cumin. Cook for another five minutes, and stir to form a nice paste.

4. Add garbanzo beans (with about 1/2 cup water). Add coconut milk and stir. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for another ten minutes or so. The beans will be saucey. Remove from heat.

5. Add salt and lemon juice. Serve on plate with basmati rice. Add cilantro as garnish.




Notes: Ameet Maturu of Rice of Life was kind enough to let us share his recipe for Chana Masala with you. We served our Chana Masala with Phul Gobi (bell peppers and cauliflower) and brown rice. This was one of those recipes where I made a mistake and added the whole can of tomato paste instead of 2 TB as the recipe called for. Instead of freaking out about it, I turned it in to a positive by adding some aromatic coconut milk we had on hand from the Gado Gado recipe. It added a bit of depth to the sauce that I was quite happy about.

This recipe also marks the first time I have ever used ghee. I made my first batch of ghee and then used it for the recipe, and let me tell you, it made such a difference! Such a rich and delicious taste! I highly recommend cooking with ghee, especially for Indian recipes.

Historical context: Chana Masala is a North Indian / Pakistani chickpea curry dish. I have seen this described as "comfort food" time and time again, and it is no wonder that this dish remains one of the most popular dishes at Indian restaurants worldwide!

Indonesian Gado Gado

adapted from the International Vegetarian Union's Gado Gado

Serves 8 (main dish servings)
Passive cooking time: 30 minutes • Active cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1/2 pound small potatoes, boiled in their skins until tender
1 cup shredded cabbage, boiled for 5 minutes and drained
1/2 pound carrots, sliced, boiled for 5 minutes and drained
1/2 pound bean sprouts, boiled for 2 minutes and drained
1/4 pound green beans, cut into 2-inch lengths, boiled for 5 minutes and drained
1 cup diced jicama (optional)
Peanut Sauce (see recipe below)
14 oz firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, and sauted
2 tablespoons peanut oil
3 tablespoons Crispy Fried Shallots (shhh, I used French's fried onions from the grocery store)
2 cups uncooked brown rice (I prefer short grain)

Peanut Sauce
1/3 c peanut butter
1-2 tsp sambal ulek or other chili paste
2 tsp dark soy sauce
1-1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground galangal or 1-1/2 tsp finely shredded galangal (I substituted standard ginger with fine results)
1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate or 2 tsp lemon juice
1 T soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3/4 c coconut milk


Steps:

1. Wash and cut the potatoes and drop them into 2 quarts boiling water. Let simmer about 15 minutes before adding other vegetables. Add cabbage, carrots, and green beans and simmer for 5 minutes. Add bean sprouts and simmer for 2 minutes before draining all vegetables.

2. While veggies are simmering, bring 3 cups water and 1 tsp salt to a boil. Add brown rice and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for approximately 20 - 25 minutes, or until water is absorbed by rice.


3. While veggies and rice are simmering, start peanut sauce. In a medium sauce pan, combine all ingredients and bring just to a boil. Make sure peanut butter is completely melted within sauce.

4. Cut tofu into 1/2 inch pieces. Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a skillet and saute tofu chunks until golden brown.


5. With veggies drained, rice done, jicama diced, and tofu sauted, assemble the Gado Gado. Scoop 1/2 cup of rice into a big bowl. Add veggies, jicama, and spoon peanut sauce over the top. Top off with tofu and fried onions.






Notes: I'm going to be honest: this recipe is complicated. I found it difficult to stay on top of all the tasks and ensure things got done at the same time. This is definitely a "two-cook" recipe. But that being said, this recipe is also so amazingly delicious that I would definitely make it again. At first glance, this doesn't seem like a beans and rice recipe, but rest assured, it is. It contains both green beans and soybean curd (tofu). If you don't normally stock these vegetables, this dish is also not particularly cheap. We just happened to get every vegetable except the jicama in our CSA veggie box this week, and knew we had to make this recipe. I served this dish warm, but I'm sure it would also taste great cold.

Historical context: In Bahasa (language of Indonesia), the word gado-gado means potpourri or medley. In Indonesia, Gado Gado is a street food, and is often sold by mobile food carts or in open air eateries. It is a traditional dish, thought to be created when Portuguese and Spanish traders brought nuts and chilies to Asia in the 16th century. Gado-gado is considered a salad where cooks throw in whatever vegetables are fresh and in season. It can be made with whatever leftovers you have on hand and it has been said that its beauty lies in its versatility.
Source: Wall Street Journal