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In the Trinidad when you add meat to it, be it chicken,pork,beef,pig-tail, salt-beef or smoked bones it becomes what some Caribbean people call Pelau

Americans love extra sauce!! as a Jamaican I always go into a restuarant where Yankees are asking for extra gravy. Rice and Peas is suppose to be DRY. Honestly this is by far not not from the Caribbean. Also the above looks like Red Stew Peas and Rice..All it is missing is the spinners, some salt pork or beef.

This is making me hungry for rice and peas, which I haven't had in a while. But I can't keep staring at that picture - it is like a car wreck - just looks so wrong. Place me in the camp with those saying it shouldn't be soupy at all. All my family members who made it made a dry version, no soup or "risotto-like consistency" at all.

Also - use one scotch bonnet pepper (or habanero if scotch bonnet isn't available where you live) with a small hole poked in it instead of the chopped jalapeno. Remove the pepper prior to serving, lest your friends think it is okay to just eat the thing whole!

I'm also a fan of lots of thyme - I put a few stems of fresh thyme in mine and let the leaves cook off/down.

Well, I tried this the other night. Once it was done cooking according to the directions I put the lid on and let the whole thing sit for about 15 minutes while I finished the rest of the meal. The result was a thick rice and beans- not the soupy one shown above in the photo. Personally, I didn't care for it, but I didn't have real high hopes since I don't care for coconut milk in savory applications. However, it gets high marks for ease, and I think I'll make a variation of it again, omitting the coconut milk.

whoa - very controversial! I will try though since it looks good to me!

uh, sliced 'thin' not 'thing'

The Guyanese and Trini's cook the rice and peas together, but this does look a bit gloopy. It would also take a hell of a lot more seasoning, fresh green herbs and real peppers...not jalapenos.

But it's not a bad start. I'm not terribly interested in a discussion of what is 'authentic' because it serves to reinforce silly notions about all the many countries of the Caribbean being completely alike. Jamaicans love allspice, Trini's chadon beni, or cilantro, and most Guyanese use neither in favour of thyme or what might be called portuguese oregano.

This looks like a great mid week meal with the canned bean elements. My mother would kill me for not using a pressure cooker or an all day simmer on dried beans, but I can't be bothered and often use tinned black eyed peas.

My Jamaican (right from Kingston) mother NEVER served wet/soupy rice like this, didn't use veg stock, and didn't use allspice, AKA pimento (not the same as pimento peppers). I mean no disrespect, but what Caribbean provided this recipe and said it was authentic? The only thing "right" here is listing rice first, as in rice & peas (they don't call them beans, another non-Caribbean thing) because you have more rice than peas.

I've lost my seasoning mojo - my husband was told to watch the salt by his doctor, and now I am undersalting everything. I used to have a heavy hand with it, but I can't seem to find a middle ground..

I agree with the comments above. I lose my 'mojo' in two different ways. One is when I'm just trying to put something edible on the table for my wife, son and daughter, two of whom are very picky eaters (note: not my son; he'd happily live off glue if I served it to him). There are only so many times you can make plain pasta with tomato sauce and enjoy it. We also don't eat chicken (we keep chickens as pets and for eggs...best eggs ever!) and very little other meat...we want our kids to think of meat as a special treat and not 'filler' to make up a meal. Luckily, we have two local butchers who specialise in local, free-range and organic meat. So the typical menu options are limited.

The other time is when I try and do a huge fancy meal and get stressed about it, especially if it's something I've never done before...I over-think things, look up too many recipes, and then am soon in quicksand.

Happened to me on the grill for about 3 months or so. I couldn't make a steak without killing it. on days when i would try to undercook it, the flames would be out of control and burn it. Don't know how i got out of it, but thankfully my "mojo" is back

Yes, I felt this way last month and I think part of it has to do with boredom of winter food. I'm not inspired right now, I really want to move on to spring and summer ingredients, and I miss the grill.