Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Red Beans and Rice, Grandma Walter's Biscuits and Basic Creole Spices

A couple weeks ago, I won the most beautiful cookbook ever, My New Orleans: The Cookbook from my friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen. I had spent lots of time at the bookstore looking through this fabulous book and wanted it passionately. This is easily the most beautiful cookbook in my collection, thanks Deb!! The book is huge, a real coffee table book, and full of pictures, traditions, and stories. John Besh shares his love for New Orleans and emphasizes using local ingredients and supporting his community.

For years I have wanted to go to New Orleans. It has been at the very top of my list of cities to visit forever. New Orleans is appealing to me for many reasons: culture, beauty, music, food, and also because my Mom lived there as a teenager. I was in New Orleans as a toddler and the only thing I remember is going up and down the stairs to my Grandfather's house while my Mom told me "watch out for the alligators". Having a toddler now, I can understand why both the stairs and alligators stuck with me. Don't all kids have a natural obsession with stairs and alligators?

Four years ago, the city was hit by Katrina. I remember it well because it happened the night before my 30th birthday. Prior to the tragedy, I had been busy having a colossal fit over turning 30. A few hours later I considered myself lucky to be turning 30. What a horrible tragedy and I couldn't believe the horror that unfolded on the TV. I prayed that the city would rebuild itself and this book gives me hope that it is. I can't wait to go there one day and gorge on food, music, and scenery.

The first dish I made was Red Beans and Rice. It looked so delicious on Deb's site and I knew it would be the first thing I made from the book. John Besh uses bacon fat, a one pound bag of kidney beans, the holy trinity(bell pepper, celery, and onion), and two ham hocks. I had trouble finding regular ham hocks, so I had to use country ham hocks which ended up being a delicious substitution. The end result was smoky, slightly spicy, and very meaty. A delicious and filling bean dish that most everyone would approve of. It was great served over the Basic Louisiana White Rice and satisfied my craving for comfort food.
I thought of making John's cornbread recipe, but couldn't stop thinking about the recipe for his Grandmother Walters's Biscuits. John says he believes the secret to his Grandmother's biscuits was the fact that she talked to them, willing them to rise. John himself likes to use european-style high-fat butter which has less water and therefore looks and tastes better. I used plain old butter and I think they turned out fabulous! I think the secret is in turning the biscuits and folding them over, creating those flaky layers. Also, when the biscuits were allowed to rest for 30 minutes, they rose on the countertop and become fluffy. They were the best biscuits and I will be making them a lot! They are so good that I have to share the recipe with you.


Grandmother Walters's Biscuits - adapted from My New Orleans The Cookbook by John Besh
2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold butter, preferable European style, diced (Definitely use salted butter**)
1 cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 425F. Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt into a mixing bowl. Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles cornmeal. Add the milk, stirring until the dough just comes together to form a ball.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Gently pat the dough down with your hands and fold it over on itself. Pat the dough down and fold it over once or twice more. Loosely cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for a half hour or so.

Being careful not to overwork the dough, roll it out until it is 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Cut dough into biscuits using whatever cutter you like. Grandmother used an inverted juice glass, which was really an old preserves jar. For more biscuits, use a smaller glass.

Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake until uniformly golden brown, 10-14 minutes.
My husband had been been gone all week working in North Carolina, so I decided a homecoming dinner was in order. I made the Basic Creole Spices to use on a steak. The spices consisted of celery salt, sweet paprika, coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and allspice. It was a unique blend, very different from Cajun spices used to "blacken" foods. I rubbed the spice into the steak and seared them well. The spice resulted in a very zesty steak with a hint of heat from the cayenne.
My husband's eyes lit up when he came in and saw this meal on the table. It was a real delight!!
Thanks to Deb over at Kahakai Kitchen for having such a wonderful contest and sending me such a beautiful cookbook to add to my collection. I'm looking forward to cooking and sharing many more recipes from this terrific cookbook.

If you are curious and want to know more about this cookbook, click here to view Deb's review of this book.

24 comments:

  1. You never cease to amaze me. I knew you were fantastic after the T-FLo thing but now, I am starting to think we are long lost sisters. I HeArT John Besh. I added this cookbook to my Christmas list the other day. I love New Orleans (my husband is from that area) and Cajun food. Great post!

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  2. Kim. what great stuff you chose to make. Red beans and rice are a true favorite of mine. They sound fantastic, Best biscuits, a must try. Perfect pairing of the two indeed. Sounds like a fabulous book, looking forward to more from it.

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  3. I LOVED this post (of course, you knew I would, right?). I definitely need to check out his book. Was disappointed when he didn't win "the next Iron Chef."

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  4. Wow what a dinner to come home too! I bet this cookbook is fantastic and I love your "love" with New Orleans..what a cool place!

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  5. These dishes are amazing! I may need to keep my eyes open for the John Besh cookbook.

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  6. Well, I've added a new book to must-have list!

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  7. Look at all that good food :). I want those biscuits.

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  8. The cuisine is one of the things I adore about New Orleans! I'm moving there in 6 months, and these recipes get me even more excited!

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  9. I was disappointed when he didn't win next iron chef too.
    So glad you are happy with the book, I am going to have to make those biscuits soon!

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  10. I have to look up this cookbook. I am a fan of southern cooking and this looks absolutely smashing. Thanks for this one :(

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  11. He should have won, very cute, very talented :) I really haven't been happy with that show, they always get rid of the good ones!!!
    Your Dinner looks awesome!

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  12. Oh my husband would definitely like eating dinner at your house. What a lovely southern dinner and a grand tribute to New Orleans. Will check out that book! I hear Christmas is coming ....

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  13. Kim, I am making Grandmother's biscuits for Thanksgiving instead of using my old stand-by recipe. I saw Besh on some talk show recently and this cookbook was mentioned. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities. I've been there a number of times, the most memorable was when the World's Fair was there. I adore Zydeco music and Dixieland jazz. Preservation Hall is an incredible experience (as was Brennan's, Galatoires, and a Commander's--to name a few places I recall with relish). I ate more bread pudding and shrimp and po-boys. You must go soon! Great post. I look forward to finding some great recipes here. Oh, I wonder if Besh included a recipe for those incredible potatoes that your fry twice so they puff up???

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  14. new orleans has always been intriguing to me for all the same reasons. it looks like such a fun place to go, and it's full of such cultural strength because of their history. i love your red beans and rice, it looks delicious!

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  15. Just reading your post made me hungry...... :)

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  16. This book is on my wish list! I've heard nothing but good things about it. I can't wait to get my hands on it! That plate of food looks absolutely delicious! And the biscuits divine! They would be great for Thanksgiving.

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  17. Man, what a beautiful meal and the biscuits look amazing!

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  18. I also hope to get to New Orleans one day! Sounds like a great New Orleans meals!

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  19. I am a huge fan of beans and rice! That look delicious.Sounds like a great book for my collection :-)

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  20. OH my goodness! Red Beans and Rice reminds me so much of Tampa! And the biscuits look so light and fluffy! That settles it, I'm making biscuits for Thanksgiving and I can't wait!

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  21. Yay! I am so glad to see the book is so well-loved and getting to be well-used too! ;-) Those biscuits look incredible and now you have me craving the red beans and rice again--it was so good. I have used the creole spices on a lot of things and it is a great mix. I even put it in yogurt for a snadwich spread. Yum! So glad you won--I knew it was fate when your name was the one I pulled out!

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  22. The biscuits were a huge hit at Thankgiving! I especially enjoyed them and had 3-4 with lots of butter!

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