My son and I had some chicken and rice cooking adventures last summer when he was home from grad school, which were captured here, of course. 😊 This post is a follow-up, with a well-tested recipe!
Our experiments were a lot of fun, and he has replicated some of our kitchen successes throughout his recent school year at the University of Miami, the second of a 3-year doctorate. I love getting pictures of him and his friends with the plates of food they’ve made together, and imagining their conversations. (The youth will save the world, my friends, and they’re planning it over excellent meals.) Anyway, below is one of our cooking adventure posts from last summer.
The instructions for some of the internet recipes we used last summer in our test kitchen here at Glover Gardens were a little convoluted and amounts were laughably incorrect (as in the liquid-to-rice ratio), so we took time to document our own version of the favorite find from last summer, the Jollof rice. It’s a classic dish from West Africa but has many variations across many nations, and this one is our Glover Gardens take on it. Jollof rice has an incredible depth of flavor which somehow conjures its long history. But beware, it is spicy!
Recipe: Spicy Jollof Rice for a Crowd
Makes 12 servings
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2½ tsp powdered ginger
- 1½ tsp salt
- 3 medium ripe tomatoes, halved
- 2 red onions, divided – one thinly sliced and the other peeled and quartered
- 1 large red bell pepper, halved and seeded
- 2 red chilis or serrano peppers, stems removed, seeded if you prefer it less spicy
- 1-2 scotch bonnets or habaneros, stems removed and seeded if you prefer it less spicy
- 1 cup plus 1 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock, or 4 cups of liquid mixed with chicken bouillon (use vegetable stock or bouillion for a vegetarian version)
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 bay leaves
- Additional salt and pepper
- Optional garnish: any combination of thinly sliced chiles, chopped red onion, tomato, parsely or bell pepper
Cooking Instructions
Mix the spices and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 450º. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray, then arrange the tomatoes, quartered red onion, bell pepper, red chilies and scotch bonnets on the sheet. Drizzle with a tablespoon (or more) of olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, then roast for 35 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned.
While the vegetables are roasting, rinse the rice by placing it in a large bowl and covering it with water. Using your hand or a spoon, gently swirl the rice around until the water becomes cloudy. Pour out the water through a strainer and repeat until the water is clear, about three to four rinses. Strain it and set aside.
After roasting, let the vegetables cool for a few minutes, then add them to the blender and blend on high until smooth and pureed. (You can also use an immersion blender or a food processor for this step.) Set aside.
Heat a 3 quart or larger saucepan or dutch oven on medium-high heat. Get a sheet of aluminum foil ready that will cover the pan and set aside. Add the 1/4 cup olive oil to the pan and and the sliced red onion and bay leaves and sauté for several minutes until the onions soften, stirring frequently with a wooden spatula, then stir in the tomato paste and the spice mix. Sauté for a few more minutes, then add the sauce from the roasted vegetables. Stir continuously, cooking until the mixture has reduced by about 30% and thickened slightly.
Add the rice to the pan and stir for about two minutes, then add the chicken broth or stock and stir again. Taste to ensure that the broth is salty enough, adding an additional ½ tsp of salt if it is lacking. Turn the heat to high, bringing the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly, then cover the pot tightly with aluminum foil and place the lid on top. Turn the heat immediately to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Do not remove the lid. When the 20 minutes are up, turn off the burner without removing the lid and let the rice sit and steam for another 15 minutes. The deep red sauce from the roasted vegetables will have settled at the top. Fluff the rice up using a spoon and serve.
Cooking Notes:
- Jollof rice can be made as an all-in-one chicken and rice dish by adding 2 cups of chopped or shredded chicken to the rice mixture when you add the chicken broth.
- You can also add any other protein, either before or after you cook the rice, like sausage, beef, pork, or even shrimp or tofu (after cooking, in that case).
- If you don’t like it spicy, you can leave out the habanero or scotch bonnet.
- The garnish is listed as optional, but this dish really benefits from the brightness of a fresh garnish, and the added texture; if you can only do one garnish, choose the red onion.
- This is a big-batch recipe, so you should halve it or even third it if you’re cooking small, although… it freezes well, AND, there are so many things you can do with the leftovers! Check out a few here.
Image generated via AI Art
Jollof Rice had a Starring Role on Our Mother’s Day Table
Back in Miami, my son made this dish several times since we pioneered it last summer after I wrote out our version for him. Knowing he was now a Jollof Pro, I requested it when he was briefly home for Mother’s Day last weekend. My other request was for The Grill-Meister to make his rotisserie-grilled cornish game hens, which he covers liberally with our Zippy Southwest spice mix.
This was a great combination! Here’s my quickly-snapped photo just before we headed to the table and dove in to the flavor party. We served the meal with spiced-up French bread, hot honey and a Tabasco condiment on the side… oo la la!
Join Us in the Kitchen
Since it was Mother’s Day, I was sipping a chardonnay and basking in the glow of all this cooking that was happening for me, and I wasn’t super-thorough with the photo-documentation of the recipe as it unfolded. But here are some pics from along the way, when I remembered.
And here’s the result, a close-up on the plate.
This is Such a Big Batch… What Can I Do with the Leftovers?
I smiled to myself today as I was freezing what’s left of the Jollof rice after lunch today. There’s easy goodness in my future!
Here’s one thing I can do: switch the Jollof rice for risotto and make pan-fried Jollof rice cakes. I’ll base it on my risotto cakes recipe (post is below), modified slightly for the different flavor profile. Then it will be a differently fab side dish.
Pan-Fried Jollof Rice Cakes Recipe
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt
- about ten turns of freshly ground pepper, or 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 3 cups leftover Jollof rice, chilled
- about 3/4 cup vegetable oil
Cooking Instructions
Put the panko breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl or pie plate and add the salt and oregano. Stir to mix.
Shape the Jollof rice into patties by scooping about 1/4 – 1/3 cup at a time (I use an ice cream scoop), patting them into a ball and then flattening to be about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick. Dredge each patty in the breadcrumbs, covering the edges as well, gently pressing in the crumbs. Put them on a small cookie sheet, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Line a small platter or cookie sheet with paper towels. Heat the oil in a skillet (preferably cast iron) to medium-high, and when the oil is hot, add the risotto cakes, being careful not to crowd them. Cook until they are golden brown, around 3 minutes on each side. Turn carefully to avoid breaking them. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the risotto cakes to the paper towels, let them cool slightly, and serve.
Optional garnish: sour cream, parsley and/or chopped red onions.
Other options will be:
- Stuffing bell peppers with this spicy rice and a little cheese, perhaps Monterrey Jack
- Making Jollof fried rice, adding egg and perhaps a bit of spicy sausage
- Using Jollof rice in a spinach wrap, with avocado, fresh baby spinach, sour cream and red onion for a vegetarian version, and adding chicken, shrimp or any other protein that tickles your fancy for a carnivore’s delight
I’ll let you know! And you should let ME know if you have other ideas for leftovers, or if you make this spicy fun dish yourself.
Speaking of fun, I learned on Wikipedia that in West Africa, there’s saying that “a party without Jollof rice is just a meeting”. In Nigeria the term, “See Jollof” means “see how much fun is being had,” and in some places, there’s a variation called “party Jollof”, which is cooked outside over a wood fire, which produces a nice crusty bottom. Must try this! Now I just need a mechanism for building a wood fire… sounds like a task for The Grill-Meister!
© 2024, Glover Gardens
