Rice and Peas Thanksgiving Style

Rice and Peas Thanksgiving Style was one of the recipes that while based on a standard, needed a lot of tweaking before it was ready for my Caribbean Thanksgiving Menu. Most Rice and Peas recipes use a traditional sofrito that has tomatoes in it, and truth told, the tomatoes were too distracting and didn’t pair well with anything Thanksgiving. Also, a part of me wanted to use dried cranberries and pecans in the Rice and Peas Thanksgiving Style because of their obvious Thanksgiving ties, but it just wasn’t quite right, and it conflicted with the coconut milk, which was really important for the Spicy Jerk Turkey Drumsticks. So, after a final tasting which culminated in three different Rice and Peas Thanksgiving Style iterations plated at once, my brave tasters and I settled upon this version. And I’m so glad we did. Also, if coconut milk isn’t your thing, consider making a version omitting the coconut milk, dried mango, and cashews. The truth is this sofrito is really really good, and the plain version was perfect on its own. We just liked the crunch and texture of the spiffed up one a little more for such a festive menu. After all, this is Rice and Peas Thanksgiving Style.

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Sofrito

Rice and Peas Thanksgiving Style features slow cooked beans with flavorful sofrito and rice accented with coconut, mango and cashews.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Servings: 12

Author: Barrett Bridenhagen

Ingredients

• 1 red pepper
• 6-8 stalks celery
• 2 large sweet onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 habanero
• 10 sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup white wine

Instructions

• In a food processor, add peppers, celery, onions, garlic and sage leaves.
• Pulse until the mixture is uniformly small, but each vegetable is still recognizable. You don’t want a paste.
• Add with the olive oil to a large sauté pan.
• Cook on medium (being careful not to burn the onions or garlic) until very soft.
• Add the white wine and cook until the liquid is completely evaporated.
• Set aside.
• If you’re making ahead, feel free to add it on top of the beans (don’t mix together yet), cover and refrigerate.

Notes

I like a very fine sofrito for this particular version of rice and peas. I made it with a chunkier style during one of my trials, but I have to say the finer version infused throughout the rice much better and the flavor of the dish was more consistent.

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Rice for Rice and Peas

Rice and Peas Thanksgiving Style features slow cooked beans with flavorful sofrito and succulent rice accented with coconut, mango and cashews.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Servings: 12

Author: Barrett Bridenhagen

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice*
• 5 cups stock of choice or adjust based on the brand/type you’re using
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger

Instructions

• Bring the stock and the rice to a boil.
• Add the grated ginger.
• Cover and reduce heat to low.
• Cook until all the moisture is absorbed and the rice has the steam hole configuration going on. (Check the exact time based on the brand you used).
• Remove from heat.
• If using right away, mix into the beans and sofrito. If making ahead, pour on top of the sofrito, but don’t mix in. Cover and refrigerate.

Notes

*I’m rarely brand specific on the blog (not because I’m not brand specific at home, but because I think too much instruction can be stifling and intimidating), but I bought Goya Golden Canilla Parboiled Rice when I got really into making Arroz con Pollo last winter and I have to say, that for this genre of rice dishes, it’s absolutely worth the trouble of tracking it down. It’s in most Latin grocery stores and any grocery store with a good Latin aisle.