Rice and Peas

Son of a Southern Chef

I've always liked the rice and peas that comes with Caribbean food, but I was really surprised at the ingredients in this recipe. I'm pretty sure I've never had it made with kidney beans before. Those gave the rice a darker color than I was expecting, but the parboiled rice cooked up in nice, separate grains and wasn't mushy.

To tell the truth, I didn't love the flavor of this rice, but I think it might have something to do with the brand I bought. We made it later with just water, and it still wasn't my favorite. I was concerned that with the habanero, it might be too spicy, but I couldn't detect any heat at all. (My husband was sad about that!)

I'd love to hear what people more versed in Caribbean cooking think about this recipe. If that's you, let me know in the comments!

I couldn't find this recipe online, but it's pretty straightforward and I don't think exact measurements matter too much.

Captions

[00:00]: [Music]
[00:04]: um
[00:05]: hello and welcome to cooking the books
[00:07]: with heather today i'm actually starting
[00:09]: with a little bit of work done already
[00:12]: because it was really boring
[00:15]: and it took a long time so we are going
[00:17]: to be making rice and peas from lazarus
[00:20]: lynch's son of a southern chef we're
[00:22]: making this to go with another recipe
[00:23]: which we'll publish
[00:25]: next week
[00:26]: and when it's published i'll go ahead
[00:27]: and link that up here
[00:29]: um
[00:30]: but this is an interesting recipe to me
[00:33]: because this uses
[00:36]: red kidney beans
[00:37]: instead of
[00:40]: um i think i've seen it used using
[00:42]: pigeon peas mostly but that's from a
[00:44]: puerto rican
[00:45]: uh friend
[00:47]: so i don't know i assume rice and beans
[00:50]: are like
[00:51]: everywhere and different places use
[00:53]: different beans and
[00:55]: whatever so but these are rice and beans
[00:57]: cooked together
[00:59]: so the kidney beans
[01:01]: just bought a bag of dried kidney beans
[01:03]: you can get those in any grocery store
[01:05]: um
[01:07]: and i soaked them overnight
[01:09]: in
[01:10]: he says low sodium chicken stock so i
[01:13]: just used a box of stock that i found at
[01:15]: the grocery store um
[01:18]: and i soaked them overnight
[01:20]: and then
[01:21]: i
[01:24]: brought them to a boil and boiled them
[01:26]: for 15 minutes
[01:28]: and then
[01:29]: i cooked them at a simmer for about an
[01:32]: hour so they've been cooking for about
[01:33]: an hour and 15 minutes already but it's
[01:35]: just the beans and the stock nothing
[01:37]: else and so you see what they look like
[01:39]: they're still hot but they've kind of
[01:41]: started to fall apart you want them to
[01:42]: be tender already at this stage so i
[01:45]: just want to show you what that looks
[01:46]: like you see
[01:47]: just you know still has some stock in
[01:49]: there
[01:50]: i cooked it covered
[01:52]: he does say to soak it covered he
[01:54]: doesn't say
[01:55]: whether you should boil
[01:58]: and
[01:59]: simmer it covered or uncovered
[02:02]: so
[02:03]: i decided to go covered because i really
[02:05]: didn't want it to just
[02:07]: run out of um
[02:10]: stock liquid didn't want it to burn
[02:13]: we'll see if that's the correct uh
[02:15]: decision
[02:16]: but we're going to be adding to this um
[02:21]: we're gonna go ahead and add a few
[02:22]: things right now
[02:25]: we're gonna add
[02:28]: uh let's see
[02:30]: i have all of this stuff
[02:32]: so first i'm gonna add some more chicken
[02:35]: stock
[02:38]: again just from the box
[02:43]: the rice the rice that we have he says
[02:47]: you must use parboiled rice for this
[02:49]: recipe um
[02:51]: my assistant went to the grocery store
[02:53]: and happened to be able to find this
[02:55]: golden
[02:57]: uh rice that is par boiled
[02:59]: it's from goya
[03:01]: um
[03:02]: so we're using this um
[03:05]: i know that
[03:07]: uncle ben's which is available just
[03:09]: about everywhere it is called converted
[03:12]: rice which is the same as parboiled rice
[03:14]: so if you can't find anything else you
[03:16]: can probably find that he says it won't
[03:19]: work if you don't if you don't use
[03:21]: parboiled rice so
[03:23]: [Applause]
[03:27]: and it just so happens our red kbb were
[03:29]: from the same brand
[03:33]: um
[03:34]: so we've added our stock
[03:36]: we want to add um oh we're also supposed
[03:39]: to be using a fork for this so let me
[03:41]: get a fork
[03:42]: we're supposed to stir this with a fork
[03:44]: i assume to try not to break these up
[03:47]: anymore
[03:48]: we're going to add the rice
[03:50]: into the stock and the beans
[03:55]: we're going to add
[03:59]: now my time is kind of going meh
[04:03]: so
[04:05]: this will be fine
[04:06]: we're going to take these stems out
[04:08]: later
[04:09]: this is also
[04:11]: a habanero
[04:14]: oh wait we're supposed to bring this to
[04:15]: a boil first
[04:17]: oh well i've messed it up already
[04:19]: so i'm going to bring this to a boil and
[04:21]: then i'm going to add the habanero and
[04:23]: also
[04:24]: i'm supposed to grate i'm going to move
[04:26]: this the stove it'll be fine
[04:31]: so i've got that going back there just
[04:32]: to bring it back bring it up to a boil
[04:35]: i've measured this is an another
[04:37]: ingredient that i have not seen before
[04:39]: it's called pure creamed coconut but it
[04:41]: is not liquid it is supposed to be like
[04:44]: a
[04:45]: coconut block and he says
[04:48]: to grate it
[04:50]: it seems like it's a little bit
[04:52]: separated but i'm going to go ahead and
[04:54]: i've put mine in the refrigerator to
[04:55]: make it easier to grate
[04:57]: but i'm going to go ahead and
[04:59]: grate this on this
[05:01]: [Music]
[05:05]: as well as i can i assume that this will
[05:09]: go in okay will melt in okay even
[05:14]: if i don't grade it but because he says
[05:16]: to
[05:18]: i measured this before
[05:21]: um i graded it because
[05:24]: well
[05:25]: it was easier
[05:27]: so
[05:30]: i measured it by weight
[05:32]: even though it doesn't give a weight
[05:34]: measurement but
[05:37]: we'll see if it turns out okay i'm
[05:39]: getting coconut all over the place
[05:42]: just like i always do
[05:46]: all right
[05:47]: i'm calling that good and i'm gonna
[05:48]: throw that in there and see if it falls
[05:50]: apart
[05:51]: because that's fine
[05:53]: um this seems like more than it called
[05:55]: for
[05:56]: but i don't care
[05:58]: right now i don't care
[06:00]: so i'm gonna clean this up
[06:02]: um
[06:04]: when this boils i'm gonna add the
[06:07]: coconut the habanero
[06:09]: uh
[06:10]: i'm gonna make another batch of just
[06:12]: plain rice for my kids because i doubt
[06:15]: they will eat this with the habanero in
[06:17]: it
[06:18]: we'll see
[06:19]: and then
[06:21]: salt pepper and some of the allspice
[06:23]: some ground allspice that i
[06:25]: ground by hand earlier because i needed
[06:27]: it for a few recipes
[06:29]: um
[06:31]: so once that happens
[06:33]: i'm going to cover the pot reduce the
[06:36]: heat to low and cook it until the rice
[06:38]: is tender about 20 minutes so we'll show
[06:40]: you what it looks like
[06:42]: when the rice is all tender
[06:45]: and we're ready
[06:47]: it's basically gonna be ready at that
[06:48]: point so it's
[06:49]: pretty easy
[06:51]: um
[06:52]: oh yeah this is another thing that i had
[06:54]: to order on the internet because i don't
[06:56]: think i've i've definitely not seen it
[06:58]: in any of my grocery stores um it might
[06:60]: be available somewhere but
[07:03]: i didn't know where to find it so i just
[07:05]: bought it
[07:06]: online and had it delivered to me
[07:08]: so
[07:11]: okay
[07:12]: so
[07:13]: i brought this back up to a boil here on
[07:16]: the stove i've got my thyme and my rice
[07:18]: in here i'm going to add
[07:23]: some salt
[07:26]: it doesn't seem like a lot of salt i was
[07:28]: a little generous
[07:33]: i have some allspice i'm gonna use the
[07:35]: rest of this for another recipe
[07:38]: and then we're gonna put in
[07:39]: the
[07:41]: creamed coconut that we grated just a
[07:43]: second ago and it went all over the
[07:45]: place
[07:51]: i don't know if that's entirely
[07:53]: necessary but i guess we'll see
[07:54]: and then our habanero and we're not
[07:57]: going gonna dice that it's just been
[07:59]: rinsed and cleaned and
[08:01]: so we're gonna
[08:03]: see if that makes this super spicy or
[08:06]: not we're gonna be taking out the whole
[08:07]: habanero and
[08:10]: the
[08:10]: thyme leaves or the time stems in
[08:14]: just a bit when the rice is done
[08:17]: so now i'm going to put
[08:20]: the lid on it and turn it down
[08:23]: it says to low heat i'm going to turn it
[08:25]: down to like two on my stove
[08:28]: and
[08:29]: he says tight fitting lid is important
[08:31]: for rice and you don't open this and
[08:34]: check it
[08:36]: that's the rule for rice
[08:38]: um
[08:42]: so i'm gonna cook this about 20 minutes
[08:43]: i'm going to set a timer for 20 minutes
[08:46]: [Music]
[08:50]: and then we're gonna let it sit for
[08:51]: about five minutes after that we're
[08:53]: gonna turn the heat off let it sit for
[08:54]: five minutes
[08:56]: i'm probably going to open it up just to
[08:57]: make sure that the rice is cooked
[08:60]: and then we'll put the lid back on turn
[09:01]: it off and let it sit for five minutes
[09:03]: and fluff it
[09:04]: take the uh take those things out fluff
[09:06]: it and it'll be all done so we'll see
[09:08]: you when that's all done okay so
[09:11]: i
[09:13]: let it sit for about five minutes and
[09:16]: took out
[09:18]: you can see the thyme stems and the
[09:21]: habanero which doesn't look like much
[09:23]: happened to it it kind of just sat on
[09:25]: top
[09:26]: and
[09:28]: excuse my finger
[09:29]: uh
[09:30]: just kind of flush it fluff it with a
[09:33]: fork
[09:35]: and
[09:37]: it looks pretty good to me it looks
[09:40]: done it looks nice and uh fluffy
[09:44]: so
[09:46]: we'll let you know what you think in
[09:47]: just a minute
[09:56]: on this episode of cooking the books
[09:57]: with heather you watched me make rice
[09:59]: and peas from lazarus lynch's son of a
[10:01]: southern chef cookbook
[10:04]: we made this to go with the brown stew
[10:06]: chicken which i think we'll put out
[10:07]: first so that should be linked up here
[10:10]: and
[10:12]: first thing i'm going to say is i talked
[10:13]: about it in that recipe where the
[10:15]: picture in the book which was actually
[10:17]: the picture with the brown stew chicken
[10:19]: does not look anything like
[10:21]: what you get when you make this recipe
[10:24]: pet peeve of mine
[10:26]: but that said um it was really a pretty
[10:28]: easy recipe there are
[10:30]: two things uh you need parboiled rice
[10:34]: which is the same as converted so uncle
[10:36]: ben's is actually probably the easiest
[10:38]: thing to find but we managed to find
[10:40]: another
[10:41]: brand of rice that um is converted rice
[10:44]: no parboiled rice is what labeled as
[10:47]: that and we used that i didn't end up
[10:49]: loving the flavor of that but it does
[10:51]: turn out much more um
[10:54]: the the grains separate better and it
[10:57]: doesn't get as mushy i think is is kind
[10:60]: of the good thing about that rice uh so
[11:04]: i don't know if it was the brand that we
[11:05]: got that was you know what kind of rice
[11:07]: it was originally made out of but i
[11:08]: didn't love the flavor of the rice we
[11:10]: made it
[11:11]: separately without the peas
[11:13]: without the kidney beans that you use in
[11:15]: in this recipe and so
[11:17]: it was definitely the rice flavor that
[11:18]: wasn't my favorite but
[11:21]: whatever
[11:23]: the other ingredient that was difficult
[11:25]: for us but i just ordered it online is
[11:28]: the
[11:29]: grace pure creamed coconut or other
[11:32]: unsweetened unsweetened coconut block
[11:35]: so i've had coconut cream or creamed
[11:38]: coconut before but that's usually a
[11:42]: [Music]
[11:43]: kind mostly liquid
[11:46]: item in a can
[11:47]: this came in sort of a little
[11:50]: uh rectangle and it was
[11:52]: solid so
[11:54]: that was interesting i'd never used that
[11:56]: before
[11:57]: um
[11:58]: and then
[11:60]: you were grating it which was kind of a
[12:01]: pain in the butt honestly because
[12:04]: coconut is
[12:06]: oily and slippery
[12:09]: it probably is necessary i think i did
[12:11]: end up finding a small piece of the the
[12:14]: bit that i threw in that i got annoyed
[12:16]: with and didn't finish grading um later
[12:19]: on but
[12:21]: it's okay
[12:22]: um but yeah other than that it's
[12:24]: relatively simple you do have to think
[12:26]: ahead so you can um soak the dry kidney
[12:30]: beans beforehand
[12:33]: um
[12:36]: but
[12:37]: that's it uh other other than that it it
[12:40]: really doesn't take that long to come
[12:41]: together so
[12:44]: i think everybody was okay with it we
[12:46]: didn't love it we didn't hate it so but
[12:49]: it didn't look like the picture
[12:51]: one other thing that we noticed about
[12:53]: this recipe is we expected there to be
[12:55]: at least a little bit of spice in this
[12:57]: because you do throw a whole habanero in
[13:00]: while
[13:01]: the rice cooks
[13:03]: but
[13:04]: it didn't seem to really make any
[13:07]: difference whatsoever in the flavor it
[13:09]: kind of just floated on top was able to
[13:11]: pick it out
[13:12]: because you're supposed to cook it with
[13:13]: the lid on so there was no way to like
[13:15]: make sure you stir it up or to get it
[13:18]: mixed up in the rice while you um
[13:21]: while you are
[13:23]: cooking the rice and it was just
[13:25]: floating on tight on top and there was
[13:27]: absolutely
[13:28]: no habanero or spice flavor which means
[13:30]: the kids liked it okay but it was a
[13:33]: little disappointing so uh the
[13:36]: rice and the brown stewed chicken there
[13:38]: was absolutely no um heat to it which my
[13:42]: husband was actually hoping for so
[13:46]: if you enjoyed watching me make this
[13:47]: please give me a thumbs up hit the
[13:49]: subscribe button and come back and watch
[13:51]: me make something else next week