Monday, November 29, 2010

Jamaican Coconut Rice and Peas

My goodness! Believe it or not, I have yet to receive my Jamaican recipe cookbook in the mail!
(my mind's thought: What is going ooooon?!!)

So with the help of the Thanksgiving holiday, I was able to get my hands on my Dad's famous Jamaican Coconut Rice and Peas! And now I get to share it with you all;) ...especially since it is probably the simplest recipe to follow!

I apologize ahead of time for my neglecting to take more pictures of this yummy dish...but Thanksgiving in my parent's house is filled with way too much excitement for me to focus on "food-picture-taking" :)

First know, that the normal measurement for rice:water ratio is 1 cup rice: 2 cups water. If you go this route, just make sure you don't drown the rice!

This is why I did the "water: one inch above rice" rule since I was cooking with coconut milk and water.

...anyhow, here is the rundown of the recipe:

4 cups of rice
1 can of pigeon peas
1 can of coconut milk
3 heads of scallion cut in half
1 bunch of thyme (to your discretion)
1 small Romano tomato diced into 4 or 6 pieces
A couple of dashes of pepper flakes (to your discretion)
Generous dash of your favorite seasoning (Do not use salt if you use seasoning!)

All of these ingredients go into the rice cooker at the same time. If you are cooking on the stovetopm, make sure you keep an eye on it and turn it off promptly just before the rice gets tender (No one like overcooked rice. Yuck!).

Don't need 4 cups of rice? Well, just cut all of the ingredients in half!
...just in case you were wondering what brand we use...


In goes the ingredients (most ingredients not shown taking the plunge, sorry!)...along with good ol' Lawry's Seasoning Salt. Our favorite!

...Nice, fluffy, and seasoned to perfection in the end!
If the rice comes out too sticky, you simply used too much water--to solve this problem let it sit in the pot a bit longer Hopefully, it will cook it through without overcooking it!

If the rice comes out feeling a bit uncooked to texture just let it sit in the pot a bit longer and add a small amount of water. The amount of water you put in will depend on how uncooked the rice feels to texture, so this step requires good judgement. :/

In my opinion, this recipe for me is a "try until you get it right" one because all rice pots cook at a different rate.

I used the Saladmaster Rice Cooker for this dish.

Enjoy!

5 comments:

  1. Oh wait I like this stuff!

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  2. Wonderful!! I enjoyed this Thanksgiving!! Pics and cooking..great combo LOL! :) Are you going to try to make this rice at your house?

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  3. :) Have you ever tried to cook your rice and peas inside the oven? I did and ever since then I continue to do it because the texture always comes out perfect!!
    Just like the rice cooker you put all the ingredients in and let it bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

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  4. Wow! I have never thought of that...I just might have to try it out :-)

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  5. Oh, that is a good idea Kanece! I love baking everything!

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