[Sca-cooks] Black beans and rice sides

[Philippa Alderton]

--- Volker Bach <bachv at paganet.de> skrev:
> I'ver never done beans, but this sounds very
> interesting... How hot does it get? I had a great
> day with some chili con carme that still made
> people sore going out the next day :-)

It really depends on the peppers you use, and how many
of them you put in. If I have them, I'll use chipotles
(smoked jalapenos) along with a blend of whatever else
I can find at the grocery that looks good and fresh,
and mix them according to years of experience playing
with hot peppers- generally, start light, perhaps a
jalapeno or two, and let them cook for a while before
you taste and add more, because stove heat will bring
out the capsicum heat to its max- even the sweet
bananas will nail you when cooked, if you're not used
to hot peppers. (I'm not one of those who thinks it's
funny to burn someone's mouth out, although my blends
tend to start out seeming mild, and will build to an
intense burn). I'm not really precise or worried about
heat, because I can tolerate a wide range, as I am in
the underlying flavor, the roundness, as Paul
Prudhomme would say, of the peppers and other
ingredients blended together.

Beans and rice, most notably Red Beans and Rice, are a
traditional Southern (US) favorite- po' folks food-
because beans and rice combine to make complimentary
proteins, and both are cheap. Beans can be done for
vegetarians, too, without the meat, but I don't like
them as well that way- none of the vegetable oils I've
tried have ever brought the richness of flavor and
velvety texture of the beans that pork fat does to the
dish.



> > Rice-

> I often boil rice in broth, to get the added
> flavour (and color, in which case I use saffron
> for authenticity, or curcuma for financial
> reasons, depending on where it is served). I've
> only tried this with Asian once, and it worked
> very well. I also had some interesting results
> with laurel leaves (tasty), dried dill (good with
> fish, though I shouldn't have used broth with
> Jerusalem Spis) and fresh parsley (not much for
> flavor, but I got a nice shade of pastel mint).

Broth is certainly an option, but I don't feel it goes
as well with the rice in this combo. Part of the
pleasure (to me) of the combo is that the color
contrast (white rice, mahogany beans) and the flavor
contrast (spicy beans, bland rice)provide more
interest in the dish. Also, the rice gives your diners
a bit of a break, if the heat is a little intense for
them.

> > Salad-
> I like the cukes sliced more thickly and
> quartered, and add either a ready-made 'Italian
> dressing herb mix' when I'm lazy or a variation on
> the theme of marjoram, thyme, basil and parsley
> when I have time. Also, try some white balsamico
> that you steep said herbs in. I also eat this
> salad on its own, with black bread and sour cream
> or curd cheese.

Again, that's a variant that's to the diners taste.
I've been working selling produce at a roadside stand
this summer, and we just got in some of the small
cukes, about 6 inches long. They're very tasty,
crispy, and tender, compared to the foot long waxed
ones you get in most US grocery stores at the moment.


> And you're never wrong with garlic.

You GOTTA be fairly new to the List ;-) Most folks
here know I eat garlic as a vegetable. Personally, I
think it ought to be assigned its own food group ;-)

> Hail and Farewell
>
> Giano

Thanks, Giano. If you like garlic, hot peppers, red
wine, and chicken, I'll be happy to send you
privately, a recipe I've shared with the List several
times- Chicken a la Benson. It's one of my own
devising, and is really pretty good.....

Phlip

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