Online Recipe Book

Red Beans and Rice 4

Source
Adapted from Red Beans and Rice 1 (source unknown) and http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guys-gumbo-shack--red-beans-and-rice-recipe/index.html
Yield
3-4 servings
Prep info
6 hr soak + 10 min prep + 10 min boil + 3.5 hr simmer + 15 min prep & cook + 15 min simmer
Prep time
Not set
Cook time
10 hours, 20 minutes
Time required
10 hours, 20 minutes
Oven preheat
N/A
Type
Mains - Misc
Status
Edited
Tags
Cajun

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb dried red beans, rinsed and picked over
  • 1 L water
  • 2 slice bacon
  • 2 peeled garlic cloves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
  • Sausage:
  • 1 T butter
  • 1/2 lb smoked sausage
  • Vegetables, etc:
  • 1 T butter
  • 2/3 c chopped green bell peppers
  • 2/3 c diced onion
  • 2/3 c chopped celery
  • 1 t garlic, minced
  • 1 t salt
  • 2 t oregano
  • 2 t black pepper
  • 2 t sugar
  • 2 t basil
  • 1 t dried thyme
  • 1.5 T red wine vinegar
  • cooked rice (for serving)

Method

Rinse and pick over beans, then soak for at least 6 hours or overnight.  Drain the beans, and dump the soaking water down the drain.

 

Add fresh water (1 Liter / 1 quart) to beans in large soup pot.  Bring to a rolling boil, and let them boil for at least ten minutes.*  Add ham hock / bacon, whole garlic cloves, bay leaf, and Worcestershire sauce.  Reduce heat to low and simmer.  Continue cooking, uncovered, over low heat until beans are soft and mixture is creamy, about 3 ½ hours.  Stir occasionally. 

 

Towards end of this cooking time, slice smoked sausage.  In a skillet, melt 1 T butter.  Brown sausage.  Set aside.  Melt the other 1 T butter if needed.  Add all remaining ingredients except rice and vinegar (leave beans in their pot); saute until vegetables are soft.  Add to beans with vinegar and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat.

 

Meanwhile, cook the rice.  Serve bean mixture over rice.

Notes

* IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO BOIL THE BEANS FOR AT LEAST TEN FULL MINUTES.  Red kidney beans contain a toxin, Phytohaemagglutnin (Kidney Bean Lectin), in high enough concentrations that it can cause severe gastric upset if the beans are not treated properly.  See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_kidney_bean#Toxicity

SJ Note 12 Aug 2009: This is an amalgamation of two recipes: a traditional slow one and a fast one, designed to be used with canned beans (linked in the source field).  The fast one is nice when you're in a hurry, but I prefer the creaminess of the slow-cooked beans.  But, I like the not-totally-mushness of the vegetables in the faster recipe.  So, I think I've got the best of both worlds here.  It was very yummy, and most of it is gone!

SJ Note 12 Feb 2013: We've had this many times; it is our favorite red beans and rice recipe.  I forgot to soak the beans last night, so I tried just cooking them longer today, and it worked well!  So, a note for the future - what I did: I boiled the beans for 10 minutes, then discarded that water; I put the beans back in the pot with 1.5L water and simmered with the bacon, garlic, bay leaf, and Worcestershire sauce until the beans were soft and creamy.  I forgot to leave it uncovered for part of that, though, so I reckon you could get by with less time (and possibly less water - perhaps 1.25L - I had much reducing to do).

History