Photo: Caribbean-style Beans and Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 slices smoked bacon or 1 small ham hock
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 cup dried red kidney beans, brought to a boil and cooled, drained
- 5 cups cold water
- 1 Scotch bonnet, halved and seeded, or 2 serrano chilis
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
- 4 scallions, crushed*
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 1/2 cups long-grain rice, washed and drained
Directions
Heat a Dutch oven or large, deep pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon to the hot pot and cook until light brown on both sides. Add the garlic and saute until light brown. Add the drained beans along with the cold water to the bacon and garlic and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover the pot, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until beans are just tender, about 1 hour. Add the chili peppers, cinnamon, coconut milk, scallions, thyme, allspice, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice and, once the mixture has returned to a boil, stir, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender and has absorbed all of the liquid. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving. Remove the thyme sprigs and Scotch bonnet pepper halves and serve.
**It is traditional to "crush" scallions by placing them on a cutting board and lightly tapping them with the handle of a knife. They can then be removed before serving but still impart their wonderful flavor to the rice and beans.
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By DrVivi
on February 03, 2013
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Not what I thought it would be. I followed the recipe to the tee, but the rice and beans did not
Cook correctly . I was a huge fan of Michael Chiarello but I have friends who came to his restaurant in Napa. They were disappointed . So was I with this recipe. I don't know what else to say. Very sad. : (. :(.
Sincerely V. Letizia.
By eko726
New York, NY
on May 04, 2011
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Great recipe! I used a half of a Jamaican spicy pepper, I believe it was a habanero and it came out quite spicy! I may use a little less next time but the taste went extremely well with the other ingredients. This is super delicious, I have made many rice dishes and this definitely comes out as one of the best. I used brown rice instead of white and for this reason I'm assuming it came out a little more moist / soggy than usual. I also agree with the other review about adding the canned beans later on. I always use canned beans because to me they taste almost nearly the same and it's much quicker. You should definitely give this recipe a try!
By rubyharris_11053045
on September 22, 2009
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Loved it! Very authentic. Instead of bacon, we used meaty smoked ham shanks; took the meat off the bone and added back to the pot. Yummy.
Read all 11 reviews