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JAMAICAN RICE AND PEAS
1 cup dried red kidney beans (6 1/2 oz)
4 cups water
1 coconut - or 2 cups Maggi or other quality coconut milk or cream
5 teaspoons kosher salt
2 scallions, trimmed and left whole
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 whole green Scotch bonnet or habanero chile
2 minced cloves of garlic or more to taste
5 cups water
4 cups long-grain rice
Simmer kidney beans in 4 cups water in a 5-quart saucepan, covered, until beans are almost tender, about 1 1/4 hours (do not drain).
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce 2 softest eyes of coconut with a metal skewer or small screwdriver and drain liquid. Bake coconut on middle of oven 15 minutes. With a hammer or back of a heavy cleaver, break shell and remove flesh, levering it out carefully with screwdriver or point of a strong knife. Remove brown membrane with a sharp paring knife or vegetable peeler, then cut coconut into small pieces. Purée coconut with boiling hot water in a blender and transfer to a bowl, cool to lukewarm and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids. Working over same bowl, squeeze small handfulls of solids to extract as much additional milk as possible. Add water if necessary to total 2 cups liquid.
Stir coconut milk into almost-tender beans along with salt, scallions, thyme, and chile, then simmer, covered, 15 minutes.
Add 5 cups water and bring to a boil. Stir in rice and return to a boil, then cover. Reduce heat to low and cook until water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Discard scallions, thyme, and chile.
Makes 10 to 12 side-dish servings. Goes very nicely with grilled tuna and pineapple rings.
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