January 19, 2009

Photo du Jour - Red Beans and Rice


Red Beans and Rice economizes on both "hands-on" time and ingredients.
It slow cooks on the stove for several hours, requiring only a quick stir now and then, and makes fantastic use of all the yummy little bits of meat stuck to a leftover ham bone. The rest of the ingredients are inexpensive and the final dish is delicious, stick-to-your-ribs comfort food!


Red Beans and Rice
serves 6-8

1 cup dried red beans
1 or 2 meaty ham bones OR 4 ounces thick cut bacon, cut into little cubes
4 cups water
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Creole Seasoning
1 teaspoon Tabasco or Crystal Hot Sauce
1-2 pounds smoked sausage, cut into ¼ slices and browned (optional)

1 cup chopped green onion
4 cups cooked white rice

Put the dried beans in a bowl, cover with plenty of cold water and soak overnight. If you forget this step, generously cover the beans with boiling water and let sit for 2 hours. Drain and rinse.
In a heavy pot, combine the beans, water, ham bones or bacon, onions, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves.
Bring to a boil then lower the heat, cover and let simmer for 1½-2 hours.
Remove the ham bones, if using, and when they are cool enough to handle, shred the meat from the bones.
Add the shredded meat, the green pepper, hot sauce and the optional smoked sausage and simmer for another hour.
Stir in the green onions, remove the bay leaves and serve over steamed rice. Pin It

16 comments:

Ken Broadhurst said...

It's so funny that we made red beans and rice yesterday too. I'll have to post a picture. I used Montbéliard sausage and poitrine de porc demi-sel in mine.

Unknown said...

A fav or ours too! we 1st tried Louie Armstrongs recipe way back in the 70's when he was on a Merv Griffin show! He said you had to soak the beans real good to take the "whistle" out of them!! If you know what I mean!! Funny!!

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

Just my sort of meal..love one pot cooking :-)

Jennifer said...

Ken
Great minds, of course. :)
We used the smaller smoked sausages (the name is eluding me) and some poitrine fumé. It was so good!

Dale
That is funny. Good rule of thumb when cooking with beans!

Anne
I do too. Less dishes to clean. :)

Anne in Oxfordshire said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jennifer said...

Anne
A green onion is a scallion. Or a spring onion.
(I forget that we are two countries divided by a common language!)
:)

jacklynn4 said...

Louis Armstrong used to sign his letters "red beans and ricely yours!"

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

Loulou you were on the ball with that one! I deleted my comment, as I just googled it, and was going to say exactly what you just
put:-)

Jennifer said...

Jackie
I love that!

Anne
I'm glad you found the info.
There are so many things that I hear from my English friends and have no idea what they're talking about!

Betty Carlson said...

LOVE your new banner! And this photo warms me to the bone.

Hey, one day more!!!!!

martha said...

That's a lovely sounding recipe. I bought all kinds of dried beans when I was in Italy in October and have been cooking up a storm with them, but this is a new wrinkle. Thanks.

Unknown said...

oops my wife thinks the TV show was Mike Douglas - anyway before Loulou and most of you were born!!

was a snicker when Louie talked about the whistle!!

wcs said...

I used to watch Merv and Mike whenever I was home from school. And I'm talkin' high school. Then along came Phil Donahue...

I guess I'm officially old now.

Jennifer said...

Betty
Watched the Inauguration yesterday and hope you were able to, too. Finally! Obama! I'm so happy I could cry. (actually, I did cry!)

Martha
We had the leftovers last night and it was even better the second day. I hope you give this one a try!

Dale
I remember Mike Douglas. But I was more interested in the Brady Bunch at that age...
:)

wcs
Trust me, you are NOT old.

Dvora said...

Love Dale's Louis Armstrong story. And thanks for this recipe. I made black beans recently, now it's time for red (split peas after that).

Jennifer said...

Dvora
It is a great recipe! I hope you let me know what you think. :)