New Orlexeek Red Beans and Rice With Oikos and Chives

Inspired by The Ungourmet's recent Enchilada Casserole, I thought something similar might soothe my sick throat. However, I didn't have any tortillas or meat in the house.

Okay, I thought. No big deal. I'll use red beans and rice. New Orleans is the first culture that jumps to mind, but this combo appears plenty in Mexican cooking as well.

Then I thought, I really like those vinegar-based hot sauces. Do they use those a whole lot in Mexico?

Then I thought, aw man, I don't have any sour cream for garnish. Better use Oikos.

Thus New Orlexeek Red Beans and Rice was born.

New Orlexeek Red Beans and Rice

Casserole Ingredients

1 1/2 c. cooked rice

1 1/2 c. cooked red beans

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1 batch Spicy Garlic Tomato Puree (see below)

1/4 c. orange juice

1/4 c. water

1 tsp. hot sauce

1 Tbsp. butter

Generous pinch salt

A few Tbsp. Oikos and a couple tsp. chopped fresh chives to garnish

Spicy Garlic Tomato Puree Ingredients

1 1/2 c. diced tomatoes, canned/packaged (if you don't can your own or buy local, Pomi is the next best thing)

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 Tbsp. vinegar

1/2 tsp. dried cumin

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Generous pinch cayenne

Directions

Combine all the Spicy Garlic Tomato Puree ingredients in a small saucepan and let simmer over medium-low heat for 40 minutes. If you want it broken down further, place it in a food processor and pulse a few times after cooking. Reserve the used pan. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375.

Grease or spray a shallow 9" X 6" gratin dish (or any similarly-sized ovenproof vessel). Spread about half the rice in a thin layer over the bottom:

Next, layer over half the red beans:

Follow with half the Tomato Puree:

Then half the cheese (note that I didn't have quite a full cup of cheddar on hand, so the picture looks a little more sparse in the cheese department than I would have preferred):

Continue in this fashion, creating another layer of each type. Make sure you end with a cheese layer.

Combine the orange juice, water, hot sauce, butter, and pinch salt in the pan you used to make the tomato puree. Heat through, stirring, until the butter has melted. Pour this carefully into a measuring cup or something else with a spout (I used a tea kettle... Hello? Martini glasses for cookie cutters?) Tilt the spout so that liquid runs gently down the sides of the dish, adding a little every couple inches, without disturbing the cheese on top. When you see liquid about to consume your cheese, quit pouring.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Wait ten minutes for it to cool after removing it from the oven. Divide the casserole into four sections, turn out onto plates, and garnish each with a dollop of Oikos and a sprinkle of chives. Serves 4 as a main course.

Tomorrow is the deadline for my Wheat Germ project, so watch this space and prepare to be blown away by the wheat germy goodness of it all... in more ways than one, considering the current state of my throat, stomach, and sinuses.

A very happy Monday to all. Hope you're not spending it in Dayquil-induced zombification like I am. Or if you are- which is likely this time of year- that you've managed to score some delicious comfort food!

Beat the eggs. Whip the cream. Show no mercy.

Casserole with Jerk-Seasoned Meatballs... and a Mystery Veggie

This isn't a traditional jerk seasoning, but hey, I doubt that jerking meatballs is a long-standing tradition in any Caribbean family. It turned out better than I thought it would, given that its purpose was to rid my pantry of unclean less-than-local dried spices. And stretch out the ingredients I have on hand until my next paycheck comes.

Where it says "mystery veggie," my dumb ass used a green bell pepper. As too often happens, it overwhelmed the dish. If you end up doing this yourself, let me know what your mystery veggie was and how it turned out (if that's too much trouble, the slacker version is to leave a comment suggesting a hypothetical mystery veggie).

Casserole with Jerk-Seasoned Meatballs

Ingredients:

Meatballs

3/4 lb. ground chicken, turkey, or pork

1" piece fresh ginger, grated

3 cloves garlic, pressed

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. sea salt or 1/2 tsp. table salt

1/8 tsp. dried thyme

Pinch ground cloves

Hot sauce to taste

Casserole

4 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 head garlic, peeled and sliced thin

3 large or 4 small carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 1/2 c. mystery veggie

1/4 tsp. ground oregano

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. dried thyme

1 bay leaf

3 cups chicken stock

1/3 c. dry rice

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 Tbsp. orange juice

Hot sauce to taste

1 Tbsp. flour

2 stale bread slices' worth of crumbs

Directions:

About eight hours in advance (so before you leave for work in the morning, if you're a nine-to-five type), mash all the meatball ingredients together. Cover and put back in the fridge to let the flavors marry.

To make the casserole, heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, mystery veggie, oregano, cinnamon, thyme, and bay leaf [gasp for breath]. Saute until all veggies are soft and onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the stock, rice, lime juice, and OJ. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to medium and let simmer 35 minutes. The liquid level will start to drop, but do not add more liquid to the pan. Stir from time to time to ensure that the rice cooks evenly.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil over medium in a large saute pan. Roll bits of raw meat in your hands to make meatballs. They can be as large or small as you like, though large ones will take longer to cook through. Once they're all rolled, toss them in the pan together and cook evenly on all sides. If you finish before the veggies are done simmering, set aside and cover tightly to keep the heat in and the bacteria at bay.

Once the veggies have been simmering 35 minutes, preheat the oven to 375. Add the meatballs to the saucepan. Set the saute pan aside with reserved oil and meat drippings still in it. Simmer the veggies and meatballs together for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the flour to the saute pan and whisk to make a roux. Scrape the bottom of the pan as you go for added flavor. When your 10 minutes is up, scrape the roux in with the other ingredients and stir until the meat and veggies are covered in thick, gooey, delicious gravy. Add hot sauce to taste and stir. Pour this into an 8" casserole and cover with bread crumbs. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until bread crumbs are browned on top. Serves 3.

I will be in Virginia without interwebs from tomorrow through Monday, volunteering on a farm. Will have lots of pics when I return. In the meantime, don't forget to leave me your mystery veggie ideas!

Beat the eggs. Whip the cream. Show no mercy.

Baba Ganoush Floridian with Black-Eyed Peas and Rosa Bianca Eggplant

I am happy to report that one of the main components of this dip/spread, the rosa bianca eggplant, was purchased at my farmers' market from a grower out of Lake Wales (approximately forty-five-minutes from my Orlando home). The black-eyed peas, however, I am not sure about. I bought them at Publix, which is one of the most popular grocery chains down here in the Southeast. The label claimed they were "distributed by Publix Supermarkets/Lakeland, FL." On the one hand, there is a good possibility that they were grown in Lakeland; many of the chain's generic products are. But if they weren't... do I really want to support that kind of local-washing? Not to mention the fact that Publix is a far-reaching corporation; a shopper in Tennessee can purchase the very same beans that I can. Which I definitely don't support. When you spend money on produce, it should go back into your community, not into the pocket of a CEO thousands of miles from you.

The only sure way to avoid inadvertently contributing your dollars to this practice is to grow it your damned self. My husband and I have decided on a tentative design for our backyard garden, which is based on the mandala model he read about in The Permaculture Home Garden by Linda Woodrow. However, it will also make use of aquaponics, a principle we are currently learning from Toolbox for Sustainable City Living, which I mentioned a few days ago in this post. (So far it's a fascinating read... will have the book review up soon!)

I cannot tell you how badly I am geeking out over this. Someday soon I will be using my own black-eyed peas in this recipe. No more dependence on big chains. No more wussiness. Only tasty, tasty baba ganoush.

Baba Ganoush Floridian with Black-Eyed Peas and Rosa Bianca Eggplant

Ingredients

1 medium rosa bianca eggplant, cubed

1 1/2 c. fresh or reconstituted dried black-eyed peas

1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, pressed

1 Tbsp. tahini

1/3 c. plain yogurt (whole milk or oikos)

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Salt to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Salt eggplant cubes and roast in a single layer on a nonstick surface for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, simmer the black-eyed peas in water or stock over medium heat until soft. They should be done around the same time as the eggplant. Let both cool completely before proceeding.

Drain the beans, reserving 2 Tbsp. liquid. Place all ingredients, including reserved bean liquid, in a food processor and process until well-blended but still thick. Complements crudites, pita triangles, toasts, and other appetizer foods; also makes a delicious sandwich spread. Black-eyed peas loooove spice, so try sauteing a chopped or sliced jalapeno with onions or garlic as a topping. Serves 6-8.

Beat the eggs. Whip the cream. Show no mercy.

Down-Home-Style Thai Chicken Soup

Some of you on Doveland Farm may remember this picture:

It's called Down-Home-Style Thai Chicken Soup. I invented it after the lovely Elizabeth and Mary of Green Flamingo Organics gave me an SUVload of okra that I had no idea what to do with. Of course, since this blog is all about inspiration, I won't be offended if you don't follow the recipe verbatim. I encourage you to play around with the concept and email me with pics of your results!

Down-Home-Style Thai Chicken Soup

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. butter, divided

1 white or yellow onion, diced large

2 c. sliced okra

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 celery rib, sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Generous handful Thai basil leaves, shredded

10 ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced; or 1 24-oz. box No Salt Added diced tomatoes (I prefer Pomi)

2 c. chicken stock

Juice of 1 lime

2 chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces

1 c. pre-cooked rice

1 12-oz. can coconut milk

Salt-n-pepper

Hot sauce to taste (check out www.aefoods.com for some excellent all-natural varieties)

Directions

Melt 2 tbsp. of the butter in a stew pot over medium heat. Add the onions, okra, carrots, and celery. Sauté until the onions are translucent. Salt and pepper.

Add the garlic and basil to the pot and saute 2-3 minutes more. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, and lime juice. Raise the heat and bring to a vigorous boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Let simmer 35-45 minutes. (Add more broth or water a couple tbsp. at a time if it starts to get low.)

Meanwhile, melt the remaining tbsp. of butter in a separate pan. Season the chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper, then brown them in the pan over medium heat.

Add chicken and rice to the pot. Cook 10 minutes more.

Add the coconut milk, and salt to taste. Cook until heated through and serve. Remember to pass hot sauce around at the table. Serves 6 as an entree.

Beat the eggs. Whip the cream. Show no mercy.