Beans & Cornbread *jazz hands*

So, I did end up doing some baking this weekend, but it was pretty much a failure. I tried making some peanut butter cookies, but despite following the recipe to a T (with the exception of adding some pb chips, which should have no real bearing on the results) they were not a success. The problem had to be the cooking time, and not until I had enough dough left for 3 cookies did I get anywhere near a reasonable result. The recipe said to cook for 18-22 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through cooking time. I did just that and the first batch burned. So, I decided to bake the next batch of cookies larger, thinking perhaps my first ones were to small and cooked too quickly. That didn't turn out much better, just slightly less burned. Then I started reducing cooking time. I got slightly better results with each subsequent batch, but as I mentioned, by the time I got decent results from these changes I had a batch of 3 cookies. They aren't all terrible though, and Josh and I have been eating them anyways. They're pretty enjoyable drenched in milk.

Anyway, the point of this post wasn't the cookies, it's last night's dinner. Last night I made Red Beans & Rice, based off a recipe I ganked from Everybody Likes Sandwiches. I took some pics, but they were pretty crap. I really need a quality camera, cause mine can't seem to photograph food well at all. I've gotten a handful of decent photos, but for the most part they're all pretty blurry. Might be because I don't use the flash, but I can't use the flash when photographing foods. It looks crap, and I get a big reflection off my lovely Pottery Barn dishes. Anyway, I made this handy pic because I will never go back to the in-a-box style again. Josh made some cornbread for me while I chopped, to compliment our veggie meal. We both agreed that it would be great with some andouille, chicken, or shrimp on the side. And I had the yummy idea of crab cakes this morning too. But it was a great veggie meal by itself also.

Red Beans & Rice
Recipe from Everybody Likes Sandwiches; Serves appx. 2-4

1 cup rice*
2 cup water
1 tsp olive oil
1 can of red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 small onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped*
1 green pepper, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 c salsa
2 tbsp dark rum*
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp red dried chili peppers, crushed
a few dashes of piri-piri sauce or your favorite hot sauce
1 tbsp honey or brown sugar (optional)*
dash of salt

• Prepare the rice per usual. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add onions, garlic, celery, green peppers, and crushed red peppers. Add dash of salt and stir until everything gets wilty.
• Add in kidney beans, cumin, salsa, and hot sauce. Stir until everything is combined and heated through. Taste to adjust spices and add in rum or honey/brown sugar if needed. Simmer for a few minutes and serve on top of rice.

*I believe that the original recipe calls for white rice. Out of preference and laziness I chose to use my Minute brown rice instead. Tastes just as good, cooks faster, and is better for you. I also took the easy way out and used jarred minced garlic, instead of chopping up 6 cloves. I didn't have any rum, and wasn't interested in buying some just for the recipe, so I skipped out on it also. I added about 2 tbsp of water towards the end, to thin the sauce a bit. I also added just a tiny dash of brown sugar. This recipe was quite spicy, but I like spicy. You could definitely add more brown sugar, or alternately perhaps cut back a bit on the cumin and red peppers. Also, I made only 2 servings of rice and had some bean mixture leftover. Next time I will make 4 servings of rice for proper leftovers.