Lowcountry Red Rice Recipes

GULLAH RED RICE

Steps:

• Rinse the rice until the water becomes slightly clear. (This removes the starch.)
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, onion and pepper and cook, stirring, until the vegetables soften and start to brown at the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, sugar, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir rice into the tomato mixture and cook, uncovered, and stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spread into an even layer. Add just enough water to cover the rice (about 2 cups). Tightly cover with a lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes without uncovering the baking dish. Turn off the oven, remove the rice, fluff the rice, then cover and return to oven for 10 minutes more.

LOWCOUNTRY RED RICE

Steps:

• Cook bacon in large heavy pot over medium heat until crisp. Set aside. Saute' onion, green pepper and garlic in bacon grease until tender. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, sage, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add rice and stir until liquid is absorbed. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes or until rice is done. Stir in bacon.

LOWCOUNTRY RED RICE

Steps:

• Cook bacon in heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat until brown. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain; crumble. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons bacon drippings. Add peppers, onion, and thyme, and sauté 5 minutes. Mix in tomato paste, rice, broth, hot pepper sauce, and bacon. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is tender, about 30 minutes. Add more hot pepper sauce to taste, if desired.

CHARLESTON RED RICE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart baking dish.
• Bring the rice, water, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.
• While the rice is cooking, cook the bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings in the pan. Reduce heat to medium. Drain the bacon on a plate lined with paper towels; crumble the bacon once cooled enough to handle.
• Cook and stir the onions in the reserved bacon drippings until translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the crumbled bacon, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce; bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon the cooked rice into the prepared baking dish and stir the tomato-bacon mixture into the rice until evenly combined.
• Cover the dish and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

LOW COUNTRY RED RICE

Steps:

• Fry the bacon pieces until they are crisp, then remove the cooked bacon from the frying pan and reserve. In the bacon drippings fry the onion until limp. Add the tomato juice or V8, salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce and bring up to a boil. Put in the rice and stir until it comes up to a boil again. Cover the pan and turn the heat down to very low. Cook the dish for 20 minutes without disturbing. At the end of this time remove the cover and stir up the contents of the pan. Cover again, remove from heat, and let stand 15 minutes. Add the reserved bacon and serve.

CHARLESTON RED RICE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• In a large (12-inch) heavy skillet over medium heat, fry the bacon until crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the bacon to paper towels to drain, leaving behind drippings. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
• In the same skillet, add the chopped onion, celery, bell pepper and 1 teaspoon salt, and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, another 30 seconds.
• To the skillet, add the rinsed rice. Stir and toast the rice for 30 seconds. Add the crumbled bacon, tomato purée, stock, hot sauce, Cajun seasoning, sugar, pepper and cayenne.
• Bring the rice and vegetables to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and add salt, if needed.
• Carefully transfer ingredients to the greased baking dish. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil, and bake until the rice is tender, about 40 to 50 minutes. Check the rice after about 30 minutes to make sure all the liquid is absorbed, and the rice is tender. (If it's too dry or not cooked all the way through, add a few tablespoons of water or stock at a time, if necessary, and cook a little longer.) Fluff with a fork before serving and garnish with parsley leaves.

LOWCOUNTRY RED RICE

Steps:

• If using fresh tomatoes, drain them in a sieve or colander set over a bowl to catch their juices; set juices aside.
• In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until it is beginning to crisp; with a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain.
• Return Dutch oven of drippings to the stove; add the onion, bell pepper, and celery; saute until softened, about 10 minutes (add a little oil if the bacon fat seems insufficient).
• Add the jalapeno, poblano, tomatoes, bay leaves, and thyme to the pot; season with salt and pepper to taste; simmer for about 10 minutes, until the peppers have softened.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the broth with a scant 1/4 cup of the reserved tomato juices (discard any remaining juice) and add salt to taste.
• Bring to a simmer; add the rice, return to a simmer, and stir a few times.
• Decrease heat to the lowest setting, cover, and cook until the rice is tender, about 16 minutes.
• Add the rice to the vegetable mixture, along with the bacon; taste for seasonings.
• Stir in the scallions, basil, and a big squeeze of lemon; serve immediately.