| Barbara's Red Beans and Rice January 2008 |
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1 lb red kidney beans (I use the Camellia Brand from Louisiana) http://www.camelliabrand.com/ 1 med size onion, chopped 3 toes (cloves) of garlic, chopped salt and pepper to taste (I use fresh ground black Telecherry pepper) Meat for seasoning can be smoked sausage (Eckrich, Hillshire Farms,etc) OR ham (best is leftover baked ham bone with meat) OR smoked ham hocks (washed and cleaned real good) water flat leaf Italian parsley 2 tblsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil |
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Sort beans (remove any pebbles or broken beans) and rinse really good. Set aside. Put olive oil in 5 qt or larger pot and turn on med fire. Sauté onions for about 10 mins then add garlic and sauté for another 2 to 3 minutes. I then add red beans and sauté them with the onions and garlic for about 5 to 10 minutes (don't ask me why but this aids in the cooking time of the beans, just something I tried one day and it worked). Add enough water to come up between 1/2 to 2/3 of side of pot. Add which ever 1 of the meats you are going to use, sausage, or hambone with meat, or ham hocks. Turn up heat and bring to a boil and then turn fire to low and let it cook for at least 3 to 4 hours or till beans are soft. When beans are near finished cooking remove 1/2 cup and mash with a fork real good and add back to the pot of beans, this will thicken them some. Add salt (easy on the salt as ham is salty) and pepper and chopped parsley to beans a few minutes before they are finished cooking. NOTE: you may have to add additional water as the beans cook. Cook to the consistency that you want. Be sure and stir the beans occasionally as they cook so they do not stick to bottom of pot. Serve over cooked rice. NOTE: Laurie, we usually serve this with a bottle of Tabasco and/or a bottle of Evangeline Brand Tabasco peppers in vinegar or when I lived in New Orleans we used pickled onions with the juice. We added a few drops of Tabasco or Pepper Vinegar or Pickled onion with a few drops of the juice.
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Barbara Ann in SE Texas |
