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Anna Harris

Jamaican Rice and Peas (The Healthy $1 Menu)

October 16, 2013 by Anna Harris 5 Comments

october blog header photo

By Anna Harris, Contributing Writer

Jamaican Rice and Peas is a addicting starchy main or side dish composed of the most basic ingredients but packed with long-simmered flavors of garlic, onion and heightened nutritionally by cooking in bone broth. Creamed coconut adds richness and tropical flavor along with a whiff of heat from the scotch bonnet pepper.

I was introduced to Jamaican food for the first time when I went with my husband to his parent’s home nearly 2 years before we married. Not only was the food wonderful and different but so was the welcome into a second family. My mother-in-law, Esmina, happens to be a tremendous, intuitive, and frugal cook. I learned how to properly season meat from her. In my childhood home spices were tossed onto meat moments before baking. In contrast, Esmina used combinations of garlic, onion, mounds of black pepper, thyme, allspice, Jamaican curry (which tastes entirely different from Indian curry despite the East Indian influence in Jamaica) and the infamously searingly hot scotch bonnet pepper (otherwise known as habanero) and literally massaged them into her meat days in advance. No wonder she had earned a reputation for being a good cook! I took notes in the first few years, not only for her meat dishes but also learned her recipes for roti, dahl, fried plantain, ackee, and the staple starch with nearly every main dish, rice and peas. ( I never did take home her recipes for tripe though!)

I couldn’t imagine how something so simple could be so flavorful. Over time I think I learned some of her signature kitchen secrets including salting as you cook, liberal use of garlic and onion, and how more flavor is achieved with patience and time.  Interestingly, with her rice and peas, she used pantry items like par-boiled rice, vegetable oil, and canned “peas” but she insisted upon using fresh thyme and creamed coconut – both highly gourmet items to my middle-class palate. Today, my version uses brown rice,  not par-boiled,  and dry beans for extra nutrition and economy, but the Jamaican flavors remain true. Many evenings her rice and peas were actually rice and beans as Esmina often interchanged small, red kidney beans in place of the more rare, but more authentic, gungo, or pigeon peas.  We like the unobtrusive taste and texture of the pigeon peas better but the kidney peas are perfectly delicious as well.

*I prepared the entire package of gungo peas, saving myself a step for another day. The whole package makes about 6 cups of peas after soaking. We only use 2 cups for this recipe.

Cost Analysis: (my costs)

Rice-$2.10 (bought bulk in a 5# bag @ $10.49)

Gungo/Pigeon Peas-$0.59 (bought in a 16 oz bag @ $1.79, Goya brand)

Organic creamed coconut-$1.25 (8 oz package @ $2.49)

Onion-$0.06 (bag of 8 small onions from Aldi @$0.99)

Garlic-$0.07 ( Normally I have organic and amazing garlic from our neighbor, free of cost but this was a package of 3 heads from Aldi @ $0.79)

Fresh thyme sprigs-free (from my neighbor’s bountiful garden and heart)

Sea salt, Pepper-$0.12 (bulk prices)

Chicken broth-free ( from carcass of a roasted chicken, made one gallon for using in just about anything! Alternately, I found organic chicken broth at Aldi, on sale, that would bring the individual cost to $1.15 per serving.)

  Total: $4.19=$0.70 per serving

DSC_0850

 

Jamaican Rice and Peas
 
Author:
Anna Harris
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Jamaican
Serves: 6
Print
 
A basic dish of rice n’ beans elevated to a cultural staple with the addition of creamed coconut, thyme, and heaps of flavor.
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups long grain brown rice
  • About ⅓ package/5.3 oz (or simply soak the whole package) pigeon/gungo peas/small red kidney beans
  • Soaking Ingredients: 4 tbs. whey, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. sea salt
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • ½ of a small-medium onion
  • ½ package creamed coconut
  • 5 sprigs fresh thyme
  • ¼ of a scotch bonnet pepper (just cut the tip/side off)
  • sea salt, black pepper
Instructions
  1. Soak rice and beans in warm, filtered water with 2 tbs of whey, or acid medium and 1 tsp.sea salt per soaking bowl. Soak 7+ hours or simply overnight.
  2. Mince garlic. Pour 2 cups soaked peas, chicken broth, and minced garlic into a pot. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat to a simmer until the peas are tender, about 45-55 minutes.
  3. Strain the peas, saving the poured off broth. It should equal a scant 4 cups. If there is much less than 4 cups add water to make up for it.
  4. Dice onion into small dice, add to pot along with creamed coconut, thyme sprigs, soaked rice, gungo peas, and remaining broth. Top with piece of scotch bonnet pepper.
  5. Bring to a boil, season with plenty of sea salt and black pepper, taste broth for a full flavor. Allow to bubble for 5 minutes before turning heat to low and cooking until the rice is tender, about 40-45 minutes.
3.2.2124

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DSC_0679Anna lives Buffalo, NY surrounded by a cityscape of both blight and hope. She receives inspiration from the next-door urban farm and loves nothing more than to spend a lazy summer Saturday perusing the lush stalls of a farmers market with her two lively children and husband. Cream and butter are two of her most adored ingredients.

She is devoted to sustainable food sourcing and to encouraging others to find the links between simple, beautiful food and thriving health. Some of her major influences include Alice Waters, Sally Fallon, and the More-With-Less cookbooks. She enjoys challenging herself with serving large gatherings, living with intentional restraint, and engaging her children in the creative world of food.

Above all, she values relationships and finds joy in bringing people together around the table.

You can find her blogging at eastsidepicurean.com .

Filed Under: Dairy Free, Main Dishes, Nourishing Frugal Recipes, Nourishing Practices, The Healthy $1 Menu

Green Bean Saute with Feta

September 30, 2013 by Anna Harris 2 Comments

Blog Header Photo

By Anna Harris, Contributing Writer

Today’s flavor-abundant side dish consists of green beans, still crisp-tender, bathed in a tangy fresh tomato and onion glaze, perked to a sassy finish with both red pepper flakes and zesty crumbles of feta cheese.

Our CSA offerings have been such a gift, absolutely spoiling my appetite for grocery store produce. The flavor of vegetables picked hours ago in lovingly tended soil is unmatchable. Included in this week’s offerings were most of my ingredients-sweet onion, green beans, tomatoes, garlic- so this recipe was a cinch to imagine. Green beans have always been one of my summer cravings, usually liberally doused in salt, and lashings of butter. Simple is most always the most superb, yes? But knowing how delicious plenty of salt makes a proper green bean shine, I find the briny feta fragments to be a faultless match. Combine the beans with diced tomato, slivers of garlic, and sweet onion as well, and you have yourself an ideal late summer dish.

I ate this with a butter-fried set of pastured eggs but if you happen to have some roasted chicken, or grilled fish, that could possibly be even more gratifying. Or with sourdough bread to mop up the savory puddles left on your plate, or rice, or quinoa…

To make this dairy-free, stick with just the olive oil for the saute and finish with minced green olives or, if this appeals, with some high-quality minced anchovies!

This recipe also is perfect for Trim Healthy Mamas, categorized as an “S”.

Green Bean Saute with Feta
 
Author:
Anna Harris
Recipe type: Side Dish/Low Carb
Cuisine: American/Mediterranean
Serves: 4
Print
 
Fresh green beans, tomato, sweet onion, and garlic sauteed with butter and olive oil, finished with a pinch of fiery red pepper flakes and tangy feta cheese.
Ingredients
  • 1 pound green beans
  • ½ of a sweet onion (1/3 cup shallots would be lovely as well, also can sub regular yellow onion or red onion but use less, by about half.)
  • 1 large clove of garlic
  • 2 medium-or one large-ripe tomatoes
  • ⅛ tsp. red pepper flakes
  • ⅛ tsp. black pepper
  • ½ cup feta cheese
  • Celtic sea salt
  • 2 tbs. olive oil
  • 2 tbs. butter
Instructions
  1. Set a medium-sized pot of water on to boil. Rinse and stem green beans. When the water reaches a boil, salt lightly and add green beans. Boil 3-5 minutes or until bright green but still relatively firm.
  2. Slice sweet onion length-wise. Chop garlic.Dice and de-seed tomatoes. Heat oil and butter in a skillet over high heat. Add tomatoes, fry for about 3 minutes to evaporate juices, add onion, garlic, red and black pepper, and ⅛ tsp. salt.
  3. Allow to fry on high heat for about 5 minutes, tossing occasionally, or until the onion is translucent and the juices have thickened and reduced.
  4. Add green beans, toss well, cover and steam for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the beans are tender but not mushy.
  5. Sprinkle with feta cheese and serve hot or warm.
3.2.2124

 

nourishing gourmet bio pic

Anna lives Buffalo, NY surrounded by a cityscape of both blight and hope. She receives inspiration from the next-door urban farm and loves nothing more than to spend a lazy summer Saturday perusing the lush stalls of a farmers market with her two lively children and husband. Cream and butter are two of her most adored ingredients.

She is devoted to sustainable food sourcing and to encouraging others to find the links between simple, beautiful food and thriving health. Some of her major influences include Alice Waters, Sally Fallon, and the More-With-Less cookbooks. She enjoys challenging herself with serving large gatherings, living with intentional restraint, and engaging her children in the creative world of food.

Above all, she values relationships and finds joy in bringing people together around the table.

You can find her blogging at eastsidepicurean.com .

 

Filed Under: Sides, Uncategorized, Vegetarian

Caramelized Peach Cornmeal Skillet Cake

August 17, 2013 by Anna Harris 5 Comments

DSC_0027

This rustic cake is bursting with one of summer’s most delectable stone fruits, ripe and vibrant peaches, swathed in coconut sugar caramel and mounded with a cornmeal-nubbled shortcake.  Though a Old World peasant preparation, similar to a French Tarte Tatin with the fruit lining the base,  this simple cake offers the quintessential Americana  ingredients of corn and peaches, which, like many foods that are in season together, are also harmonious flavor-wise.

Feel free to eat this for brunch or breakfast-perhaps paired with some thick, homemade yogurt, or, more lush, whipped cream-as the nutritional ante is maximized by “soaking” the flour. In my experience, soaked baked goods can turn out rather heavy but this version reduces the density by cutting in a small amount of buttermilk with the butter and allowing the mixture to rest overnight rather than drenching the flour with liquid. Additional buttermilk and eggs also lighten the texture but the real pleasure of this skillet cake comes from the balance of an toasty, humble grain against the brightness and sweetness of caramel-enrobed peaches.

Caramelized Peach Cornmeal Skillet Cake
 
Author:
Anna Harris
Recipe type: Brunch/Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 6-8
Print
 
A rustic whole-grain cake naturally sweetened with peaches and coconut sugar caramel.
Ingredients
  • Dry Batter:
  • 1½ c. heaped, freshly ground soft whole wheat or spelt
  • ½ c. coarse ground cornmeal
  • ½ tsp. sea salt
  • ¾ c. coconut sugar
  • 2 tbs. buttermilk
  • 10 tbs. unsalted butter
  • Base:
  • 4 peaches
  • ¼ c. coconut sugar
  • ¼ c. butter, melted
  • Wet Batter:
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ c. buttermilk
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
Instructions
  1. Pour flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, butter, and 2 tbs. buttermilk into a food processor, pulse 12-14 times or until butter is pulsed into roughly pea-sized pieces. Leave to "soak" overnight.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  3. Sprinkle skillet with ¼ c. coconut sugar and ¼ c. melted butter.
  4. Halve, peel, and slice each peach into 8-10 wedges, layer over butter and sugar.
  5. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla together, pour over dry ingredients and add baking powder. Whisk thoroughly but lightly, pour batter over peaches and bake for 25-30 minutes.
3.2.2089

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DSC_0694Anna lives Buffalo, NY surrounded by a cityscape of both blight and hope. She receives inspiration from the next-door urban farm and loves nothing more than to spend a lazy summer Saturday perusing the lush stalls of a farmers market with her two lively children and husband. Cream and butter are two of her most adored ingredients.

She is devoted to sustainable food sourcing and to encouraging others to find the links between simple, beautiful food and thriving health. Some of her major influences include Alice Waters, Sally Fallon, and the More-With-Less cookbooks. She enjoys challenging herself with serving large gatherings, living with intentional restraint, and engaging her children in the creative world of food.

Above all, she values relationships and finds joy in bringing people together around the table.

You can find her blogging at eastsidepicurean.com .

Filed Under: Baked Goods, Breakfast and Brunch, Desserts, Sides, Uncategorized, Vegetarian

Decadent Scrambled Eggs Topped with Spinach and Feta

June 17, 2013 by Anna Harris 2 Comments

It’s the obvious that I miss sometimes. And oh! the winding pathways I take to discover the obvious. Breakfast this morning was a life-giving, flavor-abundant discovery of this. From a base of richly yolk-yellowed egg scrambles a spinach feta pile is strewn colorfully across. This combination was food magic. I ate, savoring each forkful, exclaiming to my husband across the table. I wanted to eat more just to experience the intensity of flavors, but truly my belly was satisfied. I will return to this excellent and simple combination again, especially in the autumn and spring when the spinach is thriving and we can eat it when young, mild, and tender. Or, for a recipe like this, we can utterly relish the iron-rich mature leaves that are so abundant in vigorous flavor.

The “winding pathways” came about because my husband is at home with me again. His work has taken him to China/Germany about 6+ times per year for the last couple of years. Each time he leaves, my achy half-broken heart travels with him. Each time he returns, the wealth of our love swiftly fills up all the  emptiness along with a renewed sense gratefulness. I am inspired to cook for his health and pleasure.

Knowing we have loads of pastured eggs, I began with a basic scramble, using a Cook’s Illustrated tip of adding a few extra yolks for increased tenderness and luxury. I like to include vegetables wherever I can, including at our breakfast table, so that’s where the spinach came in. And spinach, like most vegetables, can be lifted to delectable heights when cheese and butter are added. Naturally, feta comes to mind. Deliberating a bit, I imagined folding the sautéed spinach and cheese into barely set eggs, but I demurred, also imagining my husband dutifully eating a small share. For some reason, omelets and such similarities don’t excite him the way they delight me. So I settled on doing the spinach as a topping, as my husband could then choose to add as much or as little of the savory spinach as he wished. His first bite was also a revelation, between the two of us, (our children happily ate just chocolate chip pancakes) we polished of every cheese-studded scrap of greenery. I wanted to share, so here goes…


Scrambled Eggs Topped with Spinach and Feta
 
Author:
Anna Harris
Recipe type: Breakfast/Brunch
Cuisine: American/Greek
Serves: 2-4
Print
 
Simple ingredients, phenomenal flavor. Gently scrambled eggs topped with the bursting flavors of fresh spinach and tangy feta cheese.
Ingredients
  • 6 eggs
  • 2-3 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons cream, or half n half
  • Salt
  • 8 cups packed spinach leaves or
  • 4 oz. feta cheese
  • Pepper
  • 4 Tbs. butter, divided
Instructions
  1. Break eggs into a bowl, add yolks, cream, and lightly season with salt. Preheat a non-stick or well seasoned skillet on medium-high, add 2 Tbs. butter. Whisk eggs lightly with a fork and pour into skillet, you should hear the eggs sizzle a bit. Turn the heat down to low. Once the edges begin to set, using a spatula, fold the edges inward. Continue to gently stir, breaking up only the largest pieces of setting egg. When still quite moist, remove from the heat, the eggs will continue to cook in the heat of the pan.
  2. Rinse and spin dry spinach leaves, remove the main rib and stack leaves on a cutting board. Slice in 1-1.5'' strips. Heat 2 tbs. butter and add spinach, saute until wilted but still bright green.
  3. Break feta apart into coarse crumbles, add to cooked spinach, heat until the cheese begins to melt, season with pepper, stir and serve, piled deliciously atop the eggs.[url:13]
3.2.1753

Anna lives Buffalo, NY surrounded by a cityscape of both blight and hope. She receives inspiration from the next-door urban farm and loves nothing more than to spend a lazy summer Saturday perusing the lush stalls of a farmers market with her two lively children and husband. Cream and butter are two of her most adored ingredients.

She is devoted to sustainable food sourcing and to encouraging others to find the links between simple, beautiful food and thriving health. Some of her major influences include Alice Waters, Sally Fallon, and the More-With-Less cookbooks. She enjoys challenging herself with serving large gatherings, living with intentional restraint, and engaging her children in the creative world of food. She values relationships and finds joy in bringing people together around the table. You can find her blogging at eastsidepicurean.com 

Filed Under: Breakfast and Brunch, Main Dishes, Nutrient Dense Foods

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