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Prep time
20 minutes
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Cook time
1 hour 25 minutes
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Serves
4
Author Notes
This one-pot dish is akin to a purloo or a jambalaya. It evokes the traditional tomato-based Savannah Red Rice but is steeped in a hearty vegetable stock. When I was coming up, a bowl of rice with some roasted vegetables in it was often dinner, especially when meat proved scarce. I still find it comforting, just as I did during those lean years when I was at Howard University, right after getting out of the Army. Anytime someone would say they didn’t have any food in the house, I would invite folk over and serve my version of Gullah Rice, finished with a handful of fresh arugula that wilts lightly from the heat. Tip: If you want to add meat, sauté sliced smoked or andouille sausage, or chicken tenders cut into chunks, for 5 to 7 minutes before adding the onion. For shrimp, add peeled and deveined shrimp during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Excerpted from Bress ‘n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer. Copyright © 2021 CheFarmer Matthew Raiford and Amy Paige Condon. Photography © 2021 by Siobhán Egan. Reproduced by permission of The Countryman Press, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company. All rights reserved. —Matthew Raiford
Ingredients
- Gullah Rice
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1 cup
red onion, roughly chopped
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4 tablespoons
bacon grease or butter
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1
bell pepper, roughly chopped
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2
cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
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1 teaspoon
smoked paprika
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1 teaspoon
pink Himalayan salt
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1
whole habanero pepper
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1
(28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
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1 3/4 cups
Vegetable Stock (recipe follows)
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1 cup
Carolina Gold Rice or another long-grain rice
- Vegetable Stock
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2 quarts
water
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1 pound
yellow onions, roughly chopped (do not use sweet onions)
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1/2 pound
baby bella mushrooms, roughly chopped
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1/2 pound
carrots, roughly chopped
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2
stalks celery, roughly chopped
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1 tablespoon
tablespoon sea salt
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1
sprig rosemary
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1
sprig thyme
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1
sprig oregano
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2
cloves garlic, smashed
Directions
- Gullah Rice
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In a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, sauté the onion in the bacon grease until it starts to soften, approximately 3 to 4 minutes, then add the bell pepper and sauté for another minute or two more.
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Toss in the garlic, paprika, salt, and habanero pepper. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and vegetable stock, then let the vegetable mixture come to boil.
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Stir in the rice and turn the heat down to a simmer and cover. Every 5 minutes or so over a 20-minute period, stir the rice until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove the rice from the heat, taste and add a pinch or two more of salt to your liking. Allow the rice to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Vegetable Stock
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Place all the ingredients in a large stockpot over high heat and bring to a roaring boil. Turn the heat to low and let the stock simmer for 1 hour.
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Remove the stock from the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Once cooled, strain the stock into 2-cup portions in sealable containers and place in the refrigerator, where it will keep up to 2 weeks. In the freezer, the stock will keep up to 6 months. Tip: This makes 6 to 8 cups. Make a double or triple batch of this stock to keep on hand for rice dishes, soups, and sautés. You can freeze it or keep it refrigerated for up to two weeks. You may add clippings from other vegetables, such as asparagus and other greens, for added flavor, depth, and nutrients. Throw any of your leftover vegetable peels into your compost bin.
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