How do YOU prepare Beans and Rice?

Janet B. said:

I'm looking for varied ways to prepare beans and rice. �We love the
combination. �Would you share your approach with me?

First thing you need to learn is it's rice and beans, not beans and
rice. <g>

So how fancy schmancy do you want to get... I can go light years, from
just three ingredients to more involved than everyone here all put
together can imagine.

Sheldon

"Janet B." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for varied ways to prepare beans and rice. We love the
combination. Would you share your approach with me?
Janet

Mmm hmmm.

Soak a bag of black beans overnight, drain the water and add new, to a
couple of inches above the beans.

(Yes, there are nutrients in the water, but if you keep the first water the
beans are DEADLY black ... a matter of taste, I guess ...)

Turn the heat up to "high," and smash four cloves of fresh garlic
with the side of a meat tenderizer, a mallet, whatever. Then dice
them finely and add to the beans. Add freshly cracked black pepper--
a good bunch. 🙂 Add two tablespoons ground cumin, crushed. Put in a
few bay leaves if you like them.

When this comes to a boil, turn it down and put the lid partly on. You
want a very gentle simmer, with the pot mostly covered but steam escaping.

Cook it this way for two hours. Test to see if the beans are soft. If they
are,
add half a medium jar of medium-to-hot chunky salsa

If not, simmer for another hour. I have had black beans take up to four
hours
to get perfect. You want whole beans, very soft, not busted open boiled
beans.

Cook those beans down until they are an entree, not a soup.

Make your favorite plain rice. Serve the beans over the rice, and add a
generous sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese.

Then go out and plow the back forty! This is not a meal for a sedentary
person!

Janet B. said:

I'm looking for varied ways to prepare beans and rice. We love the
combination. Would you share your approach with me?
Janet

Quoted message said:

Would this be red beans and rice?

"Janet B." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for varied ways to prepare beans and rice. We love the
combination. Would you share your approach with me?
Janet

Also, there's Hoppin' John. 🙂 Very similar method but with blackeyed peas
seasoned with bacon and onion, served over rice, with a sprinkle of cheddar.

Probably my favorite is red beans and rice. My approach is
very standard, based on the "trilogy" of bell pepper, celery
and onion sauteed together; seasoning the includes cayenne,
Bay Seasoning, and (at the end, as well as sprinkled on top) file';
and vegetable stock.

The only difficulty may be finding red beans -- there seems
to be a sporadic shortage of them over the past year. No other
bean works in this dish, it seems.

Steve

Janet B. said:

I'm looking for varied ways to prepare beans and rice. We love the
combination. Would you share your approach with me?
Janet

Last time, I sautéed some onion and celery in a little oil. Added a
tablespoon or two of ham stock (from the freezer) and a minced jalapeño
pepper. Simmered until the celery and pepper were tender, then added a
1.5 pint jar of home canned pinto beans (commercial canned pinto beans
would have worked too) and a pinch of garlic powder. Heated thru and
served with brown rice. This jalapeño was pretty hot; if it wasn't, I
would have added a little cayenne to kick it up a notch.

I may make this again tomorrow because it's supposed to turn cold tonight.

Bob

Sheldon said:

Janet B. said:

I'm looking for varied ways to prepare beans and rice. �We love the
combination. �Would you share your approach with me?

First thing you need to learn is it's rice and beans, not beans and
rice. <g>

Looks like you lose again, Shelly:

"Rice and Beans" recipe
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22rice+and+beans%22+recipe&btnG=Search
169,000 results

"Beans and rice" recipe
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22beans+and+rice%22+recipe&btnG=Search
322,000 results

You've never heard of "Red beans and rice", for example ???

-sw

"Janet B." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm looking for varied ways to prepare beans and rice. We love the
combination. Would you share your approach with me?
Janet

If you are at all interested in the land of India and their food tastes and
lots of different spices, there are probably thousands of recipes using all
sorts of beans (and lentils) and rice; cooked separately and together. This
is a different world for lovers of beans and rice. I fell into Indian
cooking and did a lot of Indian cooking. I have finally got away from using
it as much, but the other day I made a well-know dish (peas paneer, I call
it) which calls for peas (in my mind, it is a bean/legume) a cheese,
tomatoes and milk/whey and is a beautiful dish, served with rice.

When you learn to cook with beans, you can experience new beans; and when
you cook with rice, you will experience many new types of rice.

Then there are many other countries other than India which use rice and
beans in many forms to make varied dishes.

Beans and rice is a complex dish. It is my comfort food.

If you like meat, then try first the southern beans and rice.

Dee Dee

Steve Pope said:

The only difficulty may be finding red beans -- there seems
to be a sporadic shortage of them over the past year. No other
bean works in this dish, it seems.

I guess this being Texas (close to Louisiana) we always have
dried red beans available. All supermarkets here even bag their
own store brands. We have every kind of dried bean known to man.

-sw

"Sqwertz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sheldon said:

Janet B. said:

I'm looking for varied ways to prepare beans and rice. �We love the
combination. �Would you share your approach with me?

First thing you need to learn is it's rice and beans, not beans and
rice. <g>

Looks like you lose again, Shelly:

"Rice and Beans" recipe
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22rice+and+beans%22+recipe&btnG=Search
169,000 results

"Beans and rice" recipe
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22beans+and+rice%22+recipe&btnG=Search
322,000 results

You've never heard of "Red beans and rice", for example ???

-sw

Forgive him. He lived in Long Island. Although there are Hispanical (thanks
GWB) communities, most "folks" complain about it rather than enjoy it.

"Dee.Dee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Beans and rice is a complex dish.

.....if you do it right. I lived with a Puerto Rican woman who would take a
couple of hours to "build" rice & beans. It involved smell & taste and
various stages, and I really don't think her recipe could ever be put in
writing. Her grandma taught her mother, and her mother taught her.

Sqwertz said:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:26:57 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The only difficulty may be finding red beans -- there seems
to be a sporadic shortage of them over the past year. No other
bean works in this dish, it seems.

Quoted message said:

I guess this being Texas (close to Louisiana) we always have
dried red beans available. All supermarkets here even bag their
own store brands. We have every kind of dried bean known to man.

Yes, well the pickins' are slimmer here in Berkeley. Once last
year, I went to Andronico's, Whole Foods, Berkeley Natural Grocery,
Country Cheese, and Safeway -- no dried red beans. Some time
later I found them at Piedmont Grocery.

Steve

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:17:42 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

(Steve Pope) said:

Sqwertz <[email hidden]> wrote:

We have every kind of dried bean known to man.

Quoted message said:

Yes, well the pickins' are slimmer here in Berkeley. Once last
year, I went to Andronico's, Whole Foods, Berkeley Natural Grocery,
Country Cheese, and Safeway -- no dried red beans. Some time
later I found them at Piedmont Grocery.

Steve

What?!?!? You didn't try Berkeley Bowl? Or Monterey Market??

Well..Berkeley Bowl at least..they have a wonderful selection of bulk
foods. I can't remember if I saw red beans there or not the last time
I was there... It is possible that they don't have them: they didn't
have cranberry beans either when I was last there.

Christine

Christine Dabney said:

(Steve Pope) wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yes, well the pickins' are slimmer here in Berkeley. Once last
year, I went to Andronico's, Whole Foods, Berkeley Natural Grocery,
Country Cheese, and Safeway -- no dried red beans. Some time
later I found them at Piedmont Grocery.

Quoted message said:

What?!?!? You didn't try Berkeley Bowl? Or Monterey Market??

Well..Berkeley Bowl at least..they have a wonderful selection of bulk
foods.

I almost never shop at Berkeley Bowl due to the level of and type of
crowdedness. Monterey market I go to pretty often.

Piedmont grocery is convenient because, well it's near Kaiser
so at least once a month I'm in the neighborhood anyway.

Then there's the new Farmer Joe's ... worth a special trip.

Steve

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:31:40 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

(Steve Pope) said:

Then there's the new Farmer Joe's ... worth a special trip.

Steve

I will have to try that when I get back up in the area. I think Leila
posted about that place. How does it compare to some of the other
places?

Christine

Christine Dabney said:

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:31:40 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Then there's the new Farmer Joe's ... worth a special trip.

Quoted message said:

I will have to try that when I get back up in the area. I think Leila
posted about that place. How does it compare to some of the other
places?

It's a contender. They had organic tartar-control cat treats;
they had a brand of non-animal-tested laundry detergenet that
is better than most; they had some wines I haven't noticed
elsewhere.

On the other hand, the new Whole Foods in Adams Point has
California buffalo mozzarella, and it is excellent. I'll go
out on a limb and say it's as good as the stuff I had in
Campania in January of this year.

Fact is there's not enough time to go to all the stores you'd
want to go to around here. (Not to mention cost.)

Steve

Steve Pope said:

On the other hand, the new Whole Foods in Adams Point has
California buffalo mozzarella, and it is excellent. I'll go
out on a limb and say it's as good as the stuff I had in
Campania in January of this year.

Are there water buffaloes in California?

-sw

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:42:04 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

(Steve Pope) said:

On the other hand, the new Whole Foods in Adams Point has
California buffalo mozzarella, and it is excellent. I'll go
out on a limb and say it's as good as the stuff I had in
Campania in January of this year.

Fact is there's not enough time to go to all the stores you'd
want to go to around here. (Not to mention cost.)

Steve

Oh I know. I don't know if the sfba realizes how remarkable it is in
terms of the foods available. I am waiting to get back just to get
the incredible produce. Wines, cheeses (the Cheeseboard, for one
thing), the farmers markets, you name it.

Christine, who will probably go on a major shopping expedition when
she gets back.

Janet B. said:

I'm looking for varied ways to prepare beans and rice. We love the
combination. Would you share your approach with me?
Janet

You could try this version of feijoada:

http://www.brazilbrazil.com/feijoada.html

Mostly I cook whatever variety of beans that are in the cupboard (red,
black, pinto etc) with onions, garlic, various spices and chiles. Other
vegetables in the mix are always optional LOL.Might be some pork in
there or might not. It's never the same way twice other than a slight
degree of soupiness. The rice is always plain white rice. Beans ladled
over the rice and topped with slivers of salad/spring/green onion. Have
never tried to make or get the Brazilian 'farofa' with which the
feijoada is usually served.