Paul Prudhomme's Red Beans and Rice, adapted Recipe
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Category: |
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Ingredients: |
Ingredients: I lb dried red beans (preferably Camellia Brand)
4-5 ham hocks or a ham bone
1 large onion diced (about 2 cups)
3 celery stalks with leaves, diced (about 1 cup)
1 red (preferred) or green pepper, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)
1 entire bunch of green onions (scallions), tops only, diced (about 1/2 cup)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
1/2 tbsp. dried thyme
1/2 tbsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Crystal hot sauce, to taste
Andouille sausage, slice lengthwise or on the bias, grilled on a stovetop grill or on the grill
Steamed white rice or Oven Rice (see recipe in this book)
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Directions: |
Directions:1. Soak the red beans in salted cold water overnight (the solution should taste like slightly diluted sea water).
2. The next day, drain and rinse the beans thoroughly, and set them aside. In a large stock pot, combine 2 quarts of water with the ham hocks, Trinity, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, black pepper, allspice, and Worcestershire. Bring liquid to a boil, and then simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add the red beans to the pot, and allow them to simmer, perhaps for a few hours, until they finally begin to break apart naturally. Trial and error will tell you how "soupy" or how creamy you want the beans. Our preference is for the soup to be opaque, but still watery enough so that when the beans are ladled over the rice, the soup mostly falls to the bottom of the bowl for sopping. But the beans should be done through and through, that is the hard part. You can "cheat" and when the beans seem done, but the soup is still too watery, take out 1/2 cup of beans, mash them up and return to the pot. Be careful about reheating from this point on as the beans will get mushier.
4. Once the beans have formed a creamy consistency, or a consistency of your liking, season them with salt and hot sauce, if necessary. Remove the ham hocks, and carve away the meaty portions. Dice the ham hock meat and return it to the red beans.
5. Serve the red beans over fluffy white rice, and garnish with half-moons of sautéed andouille sausage, chopped parsley, and a sieved egg.
Lagniappe
During simmering, add as much water as necessary to the beans to help avoid scorching. I typically begin with two quarts of water, and if I leave the stock pot lid ajar, I sometimes don’t have to add any additional water (some steams escapes, but some drips back into the pot). Also, as the cooking liquid reduces, reduce the cooking temperature accordingly (it will require less and less heat to maintain a gentle simmer, especially as the beans release their starches). This latter tip also applies when the ham hocks are removed. |
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Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: There are more recipes for red beans and rice than you can shake a stick towards. Google 'red beans and rice" and you will get a long discussion of the origins of RBR, the difference in add-ins between Creole (which is the original, RBR was originally a NOLA dish) and Cajun versions. The history can be fairly interesting, and will help clarify some of the differences in Creole and Cajun cooking.
We had no real traditions about RBR, often they were made with canned red beans, but NEVER kidney beans, see the easy recipe elsewhere in this book. When CJ and I were newlyweds, I learned to do RBR for him and this is basically the recipe I used, paired with the oven baked rice. I prefer to serve the sausage grilled on top of the beans, but sometimes we mixed the sausage into the beans. I've seen variations with 1 tbsp. of brown sugar added, and more complex spices.
I do recommend reading up on different cooking methods for beans, and trying a couple of different methods, this particular iteration calls for salting the bean soaking water, which is quite unusual. Being able to cook good dried beans is a skill and an art.
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This recipe for Paul Prudhomme's Red Beans and Rice, adapted is from