Red Beans and Rice

I was recently watching an American Diner programme and was inspired by southern cooking style and came up with the following adaption for red beans and rice.

500g Basmati Rice

500g Red Kidney Beans

450g Pork Belly, cubed

1 Onion, finely diced

1 Green Pepper, finely diced

8 Cloves Garlic, crushed

1 heaped teaspoon Dried Thyme

1 heaped teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1 tablespoon Tabasco / Hot Pepper Sauce

1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Soak the Kidney Beans in cold water overnight, discard and that float to top. Boil hard for 1 hour. Meanwhile fry off the Pork Belly cubes until browned and crispy, may be easier to do this in batches. Drain beans once boiled and return to large pot, add all the other ingredients and cover over with cold water. Bring to boil then reduce to a simmer for 3-4 hours until creamy. Once ready, cook basmati rice according to packet instructions and serve the beans over the rice. Mmmmm.... Tasty!

10 Cal Chicken Soup

A little gem retailed by a certain Supermarket who's 90's comeback band's tune is now getting somewhat overplayed! However, it is a great find and whilst I would not use it as a soup.... (it would be like drinking soup water....) I have found it is a great stock and retailed at a fair price. This leads me on to my not so traditional risi e bisi (rice and peas). I always cook way to much rice for dinner and it ends up sitting in the back of my fridge until the starch starts to decompose and it needs the bin...
Then as a somewhat experimental cook I chucked the rice in with the stock (10 Cal Chicken Soup), some peas - preferably Petit Pois, garlic and olive oil (a very loose cheats version of the Italian Classic Risi E Bisi) in a pan and heated through. It resulted in a very comforting and warming dinner and of course very economical. Obviously if you want to go a bit Jamie Oliver-esque add some 'good' extra virgin olive oil and a grating of Parmesan!