America I AM Pass It Down Cookbook (29 page)

Pass It Down Variation: Caribbean-Style Red Beans & Rice

Brooklyn, New York

SERVES 4 TO 6

Called peas and rice in the Caribbean, this dish has as many variations as there are islands in the West Indies. Kidney beans, black-eyed peas, or pigeon peas may be used. Coconut milk is a popular though unnecessary addition, and in some places salted pork is added. Sometimes the beans are served over rice and sometimes the rice is cooked with the beans. The Scotch bonnet pepper adds a kick the way cayenne pepper does in its Louisiana counterpart.

3 tablespoons canola oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped small
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon green seasoning (
page 232
)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 small Scotch bonnet (habañero) pepper
1 bay leaf
1 pound dried red (kidney) beans or pigeon peas (gandules), soaked in
    3 cups of water overnight, or 2 15-ounce cans of kidney beans, rinsed
10 cups water
½ cup coconut milk
4 cups cooked white rice

Pass It Down TIP

Scotch bonnet or habañero peppers are the heart-shaped peppers richly hued in orange, deep red, and green. They are about 1 to 2 inches wide with a shiny, jewel-like skin—but don’t be fooled this, little gem packs a big flavor—and heated—punch.Use it sparingly or you’ll be sweating!

Heat canola oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add onion. Cook until onion softens and becomes translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.

Stir in green seasoning, salt, black pepper, and Scotch bonnet pepper.

Add bay leaf and kidney beans or pigeon peas, and water. Stir well.

Add beans and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender and starting to thicken, about 2 hours. (If beans start to dry out, add more water, about ¼ cup at a time.) If you’re using canned beans, simmer for just 40 minutes.

Remove Scotch bonnet pepper and add coconut milk. Simmer 15 minutes more. Serve over rice.

Kathleen Henry’s Dirty Rice

Fenley, Nevada

SERVES 4 TO 6

Kathleen Henry says this recipe was taught to her by her husband and now it’s her specialty. “He loves when I make it for him,” she says.

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound ground beef
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ onion, chopped small
½ green bell pepper, chopped small
½ red bell pepper, chopped small
3 celery stalks, white ends trimmed and chopped small
3 cups cooked white rice
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ cup chicken stock (
page 13
)

Heat the oil on medium heat in a large pot. Add ground beef and fry until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Remove ground beef from pot with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Set aside.

Add the onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and celery to the oil and fry until the celery is softened, 2–3 minutes. Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and add to the cooked beef in the bowl.

Drain all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the pan. Return beef and cooked vegetables to the pan with the rice, Mrs. Dash, seasoning salt, and garlic powder. Mix well and add chicken stock.

Turn heat to low, place the lid on the pot, and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often.

Angela Dodson’s Hoppin’ John

Trenton, New Jersey

SERVES 6 TO 8

Food editor and writer Angela Dodson has a cookbook collection that numbers in the hundreds, and she credits her mixed Appalachian and Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, along with her husband Michael’s Gullah/Geechee roots and Philadelphia heritage, for much of her cooking inspiration. “I have recorded about 28 years’ worth of the menus for parties, holidays, and cookouts ever since we got married,” she says. “I keep them in a journal along with recipes I have made up on the spot, and often with notations of which cookbook I’ve used or adapted them from. We have so much practice at giving parties and can entertain so spontaneously that friends joke that we could start “Michael and Angela’s One-Hour Catering Service.” Making Hoppin’ John is a family tradition that needs no written recipe. It is served in Ms. Dodson’s home, as in that of many African Americans, at New Year’s for good luck. “We continue to serve—in some form—black-eyed peas, pork, and cabbage the first day of every year,” she says.

1 1-pound bag of black-eyed peas
smoked turkey parts (1 wing part or a couple of pieces of neck bone)
1 medium-size whole Vidalia onion, chopped coarsely
3–5 cloves of garlic
2 or 3 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
2 or 3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 medium-size sweet red pepper, chopped
1 medium-size green pepper, chopped
3 sprigs thyme
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 cloves
1-inch piece of rosemary
2 sage leaves
¼ teaspoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup brown sugar, maple syrup, or equivalent artificial sweetener
¼ cup vinegar, approximate
2 cups long grain rice

Soak beans overnight in large bowl with 6 cups cold water.

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large stockpot. Drain beans and add them to the pot. Add onion, garlic, celery, sun-dried tomatoes, and red and green peppers.

Add the thyme sprigs, Italian seasoning, cloves, rosemary, sage, coriander, salt, black and red peppers, and mix well.

Stir in the sugar, syrup, or sweetener, and vinegar.

Simmer beans until they’re soft, 2–3 hours. Add long-grain rice about 20 minutes before turning off the beans. Stir well and cook on low-medium heat. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Did you know?
Hoppin’ John is descended from a dish that came from West Africa.A popular New Year’s tradition in the coastal Southern states, versions of Hoppin’ John can be found wherever there were once West African slaves, including the islands of the Caribbean.

Imani Wilson’s Yellow Split Peas & Rice

Harlem, New York

SERVES 4 TO 6

“Aunt ’Dine, as my Bajan grandmother’s eldest sister, Claudine, was known, held the title for the best version of this dish,” says writer Imani Wilson. “Unlike the Jamaican rice and peas made with red kidney beans, or the Bajan (pigeon) peas and rice that made alternating appearances on our Sunday dinner table depending on which of my parents was on rice duty that week, split peas and rice was served on special occasions.”

1½ cups yellow split peas
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
1–2 teaspoons yellow hot sauce
1½ teaspoons seasoning salt
1 tablespoon coconut cream
1½ cups basmati rice
½ teaspoon salt

Rinse and sort split peas to pick out any grown peas. Place 1 cup cold water and the rinsed split peas in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Watch the pot—skim off and discard any foam that rises to the surface.

While peas are cooking, rinse the rice in three changes of water. In a large sauté pan, fry shallots and garlic over medium heat in vegetable oil until they begin to soften.

After 20 minutes, add fried shallots, garlic, seasoning salt, hot sauce, and coconut cream to peas. Cook until coconut cream melts. Add drained rice and 3 cups cold water and stir to mix.

Cover the pot, but not tightly so steam can escape. After 20 minutes, fluff the rice. Dissolve the sea salt in 1/3 cup cold water and add to rice and peas. Cook 5 minutes to finish.

Pass It Down Classic: Creamy Grits

Southern United States

SERVES 4

What is there to say about grits except everything? It came to us from Native Americans, who ground hominy on stone by hand. In Italy, they call it polenta. It has been the food of celebration, and the food that got folks through hard times when there was not much else to throw in the pot. Whether you like yours yellow or white, plain or cheesy, with butter or for breakfast, there’s no denying that grits will always be one of the foods that feeds our soul.

3 cups chicken stock (
page 13
) or water
4 tablespoons butter
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking white grits
1 cup heavy cream (optional)

In a large saucepan, bring the stock or water, butter, and salt to a boil.

Lower heat to a simmer and, using a wooden spoon, slowly stir in the grits, stirring the whole time.

Cook grits over low heat 15 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream, if using. Serve with anything you’d serve with rice.

Did you know?
Seventy-five percent of the grits sold in America are sold in what is known as the “grits belt,” an area of the South from Virginia to Texas.