Jan-Feb-2016_Final-1-4-16-attempt2

BEANS & RICE

Ecuadorian Red Beans & Rice Makes 4-6 servings

These are somewhat similar to our local version, but there’s no meat in the beans, and the rice is cooked Ecuadorian- style (with olive oil). Serve with chorizo, a spicy pork or beef sausage seasoned with vinegar and chili peppers, pork, beef, or a fried egg. Top with slices of fresh avocado. WHAT YOU WILL NEED 1 pound red dry beans 2 tablespoons Rouses Extra Virgin olive oil 2 large onions, diced 6 garlic cloves, minced Rouses salt and black pepper to taste 2 tomatoes, peeled and diced Cilantro, minced 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar cups of Rouses long grain white rice, uncooked tablespoons Rouses Extra Virgin Olive Oil tablespoons minced or finely chopped white onions HOW TO PREP Soak dry beans overnight in 10 cups of water. Drain and rinse. Place the beans in a large cast iron pot or Dutch oven and cover with 6 cups of plain water. Cook over medium heat until tender, about 90 minutes. In a small saucepan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1minute. Add the diced tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until tomatoes are soft. Transfer the tomato mixture to the pot of beans. Add cilantro and vinegar and reduce heat to a simmer. Serve with rice and sliced avocado. FOR THE RICE: In medium size saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and cook until translucent and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the dry rice, mixing to make sure it is completely coated. Add 3 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Let the rice cook until the water reduces and barely covers the rice. Place a lid on the pot and continue cooking on low for 20 minutes. 2 2 ¼ teaspoon Rouses salt Sliced avocado FOR THE RICE: 2

Around the World : BEANS & RICE

R ed beans and rice, or rice and beans as the pair is more commonly referred to around the world, are a match made in heaven. In some Spanish speaking countries like El Salvador and Honduras , rice and beans are so tightly bound, they’re referred to as casamiento , which is the Spanish word for marriage. In El Salvador, marriage comes with a side of fried plantains and sweet cream. In Nicaragua beans and rice are called asgallopinto , or red rooster, a nod to the red-and- white coloring of the island’s roosters (think of your great aunt calling mirlitons alligator pears because of their rippled skin). In Costa Rica , beans and rice are referred to as “spotted rooster,” which may be even more apt than red rooster — Caribbean and Latin American versions of rice and beans tend to feature smaller kidney beans (spots) and a lot more rice than we’re used to here on the Gulf Coast. In India , they eat Rajmah Chawal , a rustic red bean curry, which is also served with rice, usually basmati.The beans are cooked with onions, garlic, ginger and crushed tomatoes, and flavored with garam masala, an Indian spice blend. Red beans and rice are also the main ingredients in Waakye, a popular street food in Ghana and Ivory Coast usually eaten for breakfast and lunch (the dish has a long tradition). Beans are soaked and cooked in plain water, then with dry sorghum leaves or baking soda. Rice is added to the pot about 20 minutes before serving. Cooking rice and beans together is a common practice around the world. Rice and beans history on this side of the world is directly related to Africa. West African slaves brought their tradition of Waakye to Jamaica , where red beans were replaced by tropical pigeon peas, which are actually beans, but let’s not quibble. Pigeon peas and rice are cooked together in coconut milk (the ratio is at least three to one rice to beans). Substitute black-eyed peas for pigeon peas for a Gulf Coast version of the dish. Finally, there’s Brazil , the largest consumer and producer of legumes in the world (3.5 million tons are harvested every year). Naturally arroz com feijão — rice and beans — are popular. Brazilians typically eat Feijão carioca or carioquinha , which are similar to pinto beans (so they’re reddish). But black beans are the main component of the national dish, feijoada , a hearty beef-pork-bean stew served with, what else, rice. Every Brazillian has his or her own way of making this dish — sounds like us on the Gulf Coast with red beans and rice.

Pickapeppa, a lightly sweet sauce produced in Shooter’s Hill in Manchester, Jamaica, is a blend of tomatoes, onions, sugar, cane vinegar, mangoes, raisins, tamarind, peppers and spices. It’s as popular on the Gulf Coast as it is in Jamaica.

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