In an effort to slow myself down, I usually make myself cook something that requires several days preparation, or at least a few hours of cooking. It gives me some short term and long term things to look forward to and keeps my mental hamster from flying off the wheel. This weekend I made: chorizo and started some red beans and rice. I feel better, more emotionally nourished a sort of spiritual approach to chasing a complete protein: work that was purely for the purpose of leisure.
**as a footnote, I must credit Alton Browns recipe for the pickled pork, it works beautifully!
Red Beans and Rice
1# Red Beans, dry
3 stalks celery
1 onion, diced half reserved for rice
8 cloves garlic, minced half reserved for rice
1 poblano, roasted, peeled and diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1/4 C. Olive oil
2 T. Salt
2 t. Black Pepper
2.5 C. Rice, long grain
1 # Pork shoulder, cubed
2 C. Water
1 C. Apple Cider Vinegar
2 t. Mustard Seeds
10 ea Black Peppercorns
2 Bay leaves
1/4 C. Salt
You will need to start by pickling the pork a day ahead, at least. Bring the water, the aromatics, and the salt to a boil, cool and add the vinegar. Add the cubed pork and leave overnight.
For the beans you can begin by having cold soaked or hot soaked beans which will speed up cooking time. For hot soaking: bring about 2 C. of water to a boil and pour over beans allow to soak for at least an hour drain and use. For cold soaked beans, which I prefer, just soak them in the cold water overnight in the fridge, drain and use.
Begin by heating 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and adding half of the onion, garlic and all of the peppers. Cook on medium heat to allow them to sweat until translucent. When the onions are tender, remove the pork from the pickling liquid and add to the pot. Add the beans and about 4 cups of water or chicken stock, add some of the salt and black pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium heat. Cook covered for one to two hours, stirring occassionally. Remove the lid, reduce the heat to low and continue to cook until the beans are tender and creamy when you smash one. To cook the rice, sweat the remaining garlic and onion in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sweat, add the rice to the pan and cook until the grains look translucent and almost completely see through. Add 5 cups of water, bring to a boil, add salt to taste, cover and reduce your heat to low. Allow the rice to simmer for 20 minutes or until little steam holes appear on the top of the cook rice and all of the grains have absorbed all of the water.
You can garnish the beans and rice with hot sauce or sliced green onions. The addition of the pork is what really gives the dish some balance and until recently (read: watching Alton Brown) I only used bacon or andouille. OMG it makes me gleefully happy to eat it.
grrlchef13
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