suemunzlinger's Recipe

New Orleans Monday's Red Beans and Rice

Category: Main Dish

1 pound dried red beans, rinsed and sorted over
3 slices bacon fried
3 tablespoons bacon grease From bacon
1/4 cups chopped ham
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or (1 tbls dried)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme or (1 teas dried)
1/2 pound smoked sausage, split in half lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces (can use hot smoked sausage)
1 pound smoked ham hocks
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
10 cups chicken stock, or water
4 cups cooked white rice

1/4 cup chopped green onions, garnish

Sort beans to remove bad beans

Place the beans in a large bowl or pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Let soak for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and set aside.
Or use canned beans)

In a large pot, heat the bacon grease over medium-high heat. Add the ham and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the onions, celery and bell peppers to the grease in the pot. Season with the pepper, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the bay leaves, parsley, thyme, sausage, and ham hocks, and cook, stirring, to brown the sausage and ham hocks, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the beans and stock or water, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and starting to thicken, about 2 hours. (Should the beans become too thick and dry, add more water, about 1/4 cup at a time.)

Remove from the heat and with the back of a heavy spoon, mash about 1/4 of the beans against the side of the pot. Continue to cook until the beans are tender and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves.
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Long grain white Rice
chicken stock or water
butter or olive oil

Rinse the rice in a few changes of cold water. Drain the rice well in a sieve.

In a medium, heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid, combine 1 3/4 cups water for every cup of rice, and a bit of butter or oil and salt, if you like. Bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water is boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cover. (If you have an electric stove, use two burners: bring the rice to a boil on a hot burner and then immediately slide it to a burner set on low to continue cooking at a slow simmer.) Cook at a gentle simmer until the water is completely absorbed and the rice is tender, about 12 minutes (it is okay to lift the lid to make sure the rice is fully cooked and the water is absorbed just replace the lid quickly).

Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit, undisturbed with the lid on, for at least 5 minutes and for as long as 30 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff the rice gently with a fork.


Serve beans over rice and garnish with green onions