Red Beans & Rice

[YoBenny]

[YoBenny]

[YoBenny]

[YoBenny]

[YoBenny]

[YoBenny]

[Wildfowler]

Looks wonderful. What is the red beans and rice topped with in the last photo?

[YoBenny]

I use smoked paprika but lotsa people who like heat use cayenne.

[Wildfowler]

?What is the scoop of white stuff on top?

[YoBenny]

Dats the rice

[benthere]

Looks great!

[Wildfowler]

I figured the rice was always on the bottom like mine was and you had some secret topping.

Can you share your rice cooking technique because I don’t even think I could make my rice stay pressed together like that.

I use two to one water to rice ratio. Teaspoon of cooking oil and little salt.

Bring water and other ingredients to a boil, stir in rice, reduce heat to simmer, cover tightly and don’t turn the heat off or open the lid for 20 minutes.

The flavor and texture is always nice to me, but my rice seems more loose than whats illustrated in your photo.

Thanks.

[YoBenny]

For Beans & Rice, Gumbo, Jambalaya, Sauce Piquant, Shrimp Creole etc., I use parboiled rice.
Zatarains is my choice, however in the Latino section of Wal Mart they also sell parboiled rice that is cheaper, but even the colors on the bag are identical to Zatarains, and the quality of the rice is identical too. My money says it's the same rice for a market with less money to spend.

There is no reason whatsoever to try and cook rice with a 2 to 1 ratio. I watched my mother struggle with rice my whole life, finally a chef in New Orleans watched me cook some rice and showed me how to do it.

Instead of 2 to 1, use 4 to 1, I use 5 or 6 to one and I dont even measure the rice or the water, ever.
(how nice is that!)
Then you cook it just like pasta, more water than it needs to saturate, strain it in a colander when done.

I use 5 or 6 to 1 because the more water you have to retain heat, the less the temp will drop when you pour the rice into the boiling water. Typically at 2 to 1 it takes a good while for the water to return to a boil.
Pour it in, use twice as much salt as normal because it's more water, stir it a few seconds cover it and let it boil for 20 minutes, then just strain it. You don't have to worry about the tight lid, you don't even have to have a lid, it just makes it return to boil faster. Do not use oil in your rice when cooking it. Oil coats the grains with a waterproof coating and only makes it more difficult for it to absorb water. Same thing with pasta, don't do it.

When you drain it, if you want your rice to be separate and individual loose grains for gumbo and all the rest, then run cool water over it and rinse the starch that is in the water off of it and put it back in your pot and lid it.
If you want to do a New Orleans style presentation as I did with that beans and rice, then don't rinse it, just drain it and put back in pot to stay warm. The starch left in it will allow you to make a rice mold with it and the grains will stay together like that. For a mold I just use a small glass bowl and gently pack it with rice. (you can lightly grease it first if you wish) I've also seen it done with seran lining the bowl. Then smack it down on something that can be moved to the bowl and it will come out in one piece like that. If it doesn't, just do it again and pack it harder.

[YoBenny]

P.S.

Cooking rice for sushi is a totally different matter and a royal pain in the butt.

[YoBenny]

One more thing on rice if you use regular rice and that method you should start checking it for doneness at about 14 15 minutes. It will probably cook faster this way.