PROPER GEECHEE RICE The Back Story

Vertamae Grosvenor, on her porch at Palm Key in Jasper County, calls herself a culinary griot. In effect, she is a cultural anthropologist, journalist, cook, memoirist, and artist whose life experience has affirmed her Gullah roots.

Vertamae Grosvenor

Charlotte’s fourth-grade class was inviting people of interest to visit with students and talk about their lives.“I signed you up.”

“And Grandma, can you bring a pan of rice?”

So Grosvenor woke up early and prepared a pan of rice, struggling to get the hot dish into a cab and to the school.

The children gobbled it up, listening to Grosvenor explain its African origins and its cultivation along the tidal rivers of South Carolina.

One asked, “Do you know how to make peas and rice?”

Another described the rice dish he ate in Jamaica. Another mentioned the rice she ate in the Dominican Republic. They all knew about rice, and Grosvenor was struck by the way different cultures share certain essential elements.

This recipe is from Vertamae Cooks in the Americans’ Family Kitchen by Vertamae Grosvenor (KQED Books).

1 part long-grain white rice
2 parts water

Rinse rice until water runs clear (or as Grandma Sula used to say, “Rinse it three times, and then once more”). In heavy saucepan over high heat, combine rice and water; cover with lid ajar. Bring water to a boil, shift lid so it covers pan tightly, turn down heat to very low; cook for 20 minutes until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Never, never, never stir rice during this time. Don’t even think about uncovering pot to peek. Remove from heat; let rest for 10 minutes before serving.  Your rice will be proper.

Per ½ cup cooked-rice serving : 169 calories, 3 grams protein, 0 grams fat, 37 grams carbohydrate, 2 milligrams sodium, 0 milligrams cholesterol.

The Back Story About Vertamae, Adam Parker // The Post and Courier

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor: Writer, actor, cook looks at her many-sided life

Posted: Saturday, June 18, 2011 12:01 a.m., Updated: Friday, March 23, 2012 5:05 p.m.

Born: About 72 years ago in Allendale County.

Children: Kali and Chandra.
Grandchildren: Oscar Brown IV, Charlotte.
Early career: Acting.
Middle career: Writing.
Late career: Radio correspondent for NPR.
Cultural heritage: Gullah.

Most important movie parts: Hair braider (and food consultant), "Daughters of the Dust" (1991); Grace (and food consultant), "Beloved" (1998).

Book that made her famous: "Vibration Cooking."

Places lived: S.C. Lowcountry, North Philadelphia, Paris, New York City, Washington, D.C.

By the early 1980s, she was living in Washington, D.C., and contributing stories and commentary to National Public Radio. She reported on the threatened Gullah-Geechee communities of the South Carolina and Georgia Sea Islands as only someone can when they are reporting about their home.

She reported on the cultural significance of food. She reported on the expatriate experiences of African-Americans in Paris. Her stories were gorgeously told, rich in characters and dimension and unlike most of radio’s offerings, colleagues said.

Her cooking show “Seasonings” won a James Beard award. Her renown led to many things, including a television show, part of America’s Family Kitchen series produced in Chicago, called “Vertamae Cooks.”

“I exploit Afro-American dishes every chance I get,” Grosvenor once wrote. “For instance, collard greens. A bowl of collard greens does for me what a bowl of chicken soup does for others.”

"Verta came into the kitchen and said, 'Girl, give me those greens.' " Then she started wrapping them a certain way and cutting them a certain way and preparing them a certain way. Her way.

"It was like a religious ceremony for her," Spellman said, a chance to pay respect to her elders. "She always quotes her references, and her references were people in her life, people in her family. So she showed me how to prepare the greens, and I've been doing it that way ever since."

When "Vibration Cooking" was published in 1970, it made Grosvenor famous. Spellman remembered basketball star Walt Frazier of the New York Knicks walking out onto the court before a game carrying the book.

"Not many preceded her in using food as a lens," Goodwin said. "You know the saying, there's a universe in a grain of sand? That's what she did with food. You saw the (entirety) of America's history with race through food."

Jerk Chicken in Rice and Blackeyed Peas:

"Don't cook this, though, unless you like it hot. And I mean hot."

 

Ingredients

Chicken Breast/ Thighs
Or use some Jerk Chicken Seasoning (everything in it and grounded already)

In a blender or food processor puree:
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 to 3 Scotch Bonnet peppers (I used jalapeno)
10 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
10 garlic cloves
Combine all of the above in a bowl and stir in the following:

1/2 cup fresh lime juice or white vinegar (I used red apple-vinegar)

1 cup of soy sauce 

1/2 cup raw sugar (we are cutting sweets out of our diet) substitute Mango Chutney or a jam

 Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Score chicken and season with salt. Spoon desired amount of jerk marinade over chicken and rub into scores. Marinate refrigerated for 2 hours to overnight. Bake for 35 minutes in the oven. Remove from the oven and finish on the grill

 Directions

I should start this by saying my home version of Jerk Chicken is different from the street-food, hot and crisp, that Jamaican make. My domestic oven just doesn't get hot enough, and so although the spiced chili crust gets gratifyingly crisp, the skin doesn't - it can't - and flabby skin is just not what you want with this dish. Thus, although the vinegary, limey, rum, and spiced marinade makes the meat lusciously tender, you have grilled/burn the outer casing entirely.

Now, I cooked this day two, leftovers, using  breast meat,  It's a miracle all around that the dish was better, the meat tender and I enjoyed the jerk chicken flavor sauce where I added the mango chutney, to get the sweetness to combat the heat in the recipe.

 There's no point choosing to cook this and then trying to find a way to tame it, say by taking out the seeds from the chili (though you could if you must). Besides, although it packs a major punch, the sweet, creamy, coconut rice that just must be served with it, offers the perfect counterbalancing salve.

Ingredients

6 chicken breasts, without skin or bone (or chicken supreme joints, with the wing bones still attached)
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1 3/4 piece ginger root, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/4 cup dark rum
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 fresh red chilies, whole
1 onion, peeled and quartered

Rice and Peas, recipe follows
Slash the chicken breasts, 3 slashes abreast, each cut about 3/4-inch deep on the diagonal. Put in a rectangular dish, slashed-side down. Put all the other ingredients in the processor and blitz to a dark, earthy paste and pour and spread over the chicken pieces and leave to marinate out of the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours or in the refrigerator, (covered), overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Double-line a shallow roasting pan with aluminum foil. Tip into it the chicken with its marinade slashed side up and roast for 30 minutes.

Take the pan out of the oven, just to pour off excess watery juices. Use a pastry brush and spoon to place any paste back on the chicken and cook for a further 30 minutes, by which time the chicken will be cooked through and tender with a thick fiery crust. You could get started on the Rice and Peas once the chicken's back in the oven for its final stint.

For serving: Pile up each dinner plate with coconut rice and sit a piece of hot-crusted chicken proudly on top.

Make-Ahead Note: Jerk paste can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to a non-metallic bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface. Cover bowl tightly with a second layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate. The chicken can be marinated up to 24 hours in advance. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Freeze Note: The chicken in its marinade can be frozen, in a resealable bag, for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator - put the bag in a bowl to catch any leaks.

Making leftovers right: Should you have leftovers - and don't count on it if you're 6 round the table - refrigerate as soon as cooled and within 1 to 2 days you can simply snip some chicken into the rice and reheat until piping hot. However, I love this in a new form: a thick, coconut soup punctured by fiery bursts of tender meat. Add some coconut milk and chicken broth to the leftover rice, along with some freshly grated ginger root and a spritz of lime juice, and heat up, adding the chicken, cut into small strips or small chunks, once it starts bubbling. When the meat's piping hot, season to taste then pour your soup into a bowl (or bowls) and scatter with freshly chopped cilantro and slurp gratefully.

Rice and Peas:

1 (1-ounce) can peas or black-eyed
1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 cups long-grain rice
1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
Salt, to taste

Drain and rinse the peas, and heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan that has a lid. Fry the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring every now and again, letting it soften and brown a little. Then add the chopped chili and garlic, and give everything a good stir around. Now stir in the rice, making sure it is all slicked with oil, then pour in the coconut milk and chicken or vegetable broth and stir in the drained peas. Bring to a bubble, clamp on the lid, and turn down the heat to very low and let it cook gently for 15 minutes.

Check the rice is cooked through and the liquid is all absorbed - give the rice another 5 minutes if it needs it. Sprinkle with the freshly chopped thyme and season with salt if desired, forking it through