The other day, my mom asked me to make a recipe of Red Beans and Rice to take to a friend. She is a full time professor at a local university and so I was happy to help her out with this request!
The thing was, I had never made red beans and rice. Upon reflection of eating Red Beans and Rice, I realized I had never really eaten any good recipe of it before either. Mom's friend from Louisiana who had tried this recipe, told her it was bona fide. I was excited to test it and see for my self.
OOOO-wheee! This puppy was sooooo good! It has layers and layers of flavor. It's satisfyingly filling but not too heavy.
One other detail that made this dish so good was the type of sausage I used. I do not recommend buying the Hillshire Farms, Eckrich type sausage that are mass produced. Instead, I recommend buying a local sausage. We used Conecuh, a sausage made in Alabama. It really made a significant difference in adding flavor.
Now...drumroll please...for the recipe!
Emeril Lagasse's Red Beans & Rice
1 pound dried red beans, rinsed & sorted
2 T oil (olive oil or vegetable oil)
1 pound chopped ham pieces (you can get the inexpensive package in the meat aisle)
1.5 c chopped yellow onions
3/4 c chopped celery
3/4 c chopped bell peppers (I used the multi colored baby bells)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
Pince cayenne
3 bay leaves
2 T parsley
2 t thyme
1/2 pound smoked sausage, sliced into round circle pieces
3 T chopped garlic
10 c chicken broth
4 c cooked rice (I used brown)
OVERNIGHT: place beans in a large bowl and cover with water by 2 inches. Let soak 8 hours or overnight. After soaking, let drain and set aside.
- In a large pot, heat the 2 T of oil. Add the onions, celery and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and cayenne and cook, stirring until the vegetables are soft, about 4 more minutes.
- Add the bay leaves, parsley, thyme, sausage and the ham pieces, cook about 4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook another minute.
- Add the beans & chicken broth to the pot and stir well
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally until the beans are tender and starting to thicken. This takes about 2 hours.
- Note: Should the beans become too thick during this, add some more chicken broth.
- After cooking a couple of hours, and with the back of a wooden spoon, mash about 1/4 - 1/2 of the beans against the side of the pan.
- Continue to cook the dish until the beans are tender and creamy, another 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remove from heat and remove the bay leaves.
- The finished consistency should be closer to a chili than a soup
Serve hot over cooked rice and enjoy!!! This recipe is just as delicious re-warrmed, it would be a great dish to serve a large crowd during the winter time and you could make it ahead!
