Red Beans and Rice
Growing up, we ate red beans or white beans and rice every. single. Monday. Monday was historically wash day (I don’t have a fact-check proof year) and beans are kind enough to be happy with being neglected while one’s attention was spent on a different necessity of life — clothes.
We used to eat red beans and rice with smoked sausage browned in a frying pan. For an extra special treat, pour a little cane syrup on the sausage after it’s on your plate. I promise you your taste buds will thank your brain for allowing a few extra grams of sugar. But what I really enjoy having it with is fried chicken. A high school friend would make an incision in the fried chicken and slide red beans and rice between the crispy crust and juicy muscle. She was definitely onto something. The combination of beans and rice is a complete protein so I tend to eat it sans meat as a light dinner (I like massive lunches). It also goes really well with almost any roasted or smothered vegetable.
What I really want you to do is to eat more red (white) beans and rice.
Ingredients
1 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped green bell pepper
1/2 c chopped celery
1/4 c chopped green onion (whites and greens)
1 T minced fresh parsley
1/4 c tasso, chopped
1 T salt
1/2 t ground black pepper
1/4 t ground cayenne
4 bay leaves
1/2 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried basil
1 pound of Camellia red beans
water (start with abut 2 quarts of water)
Directions
Add all ingredients to a Dutch oven, bring to just a simmer. Leave be for 4.5 hours with the exception of a quick stir every now and then. Your beans will begin to burst. I like about half of my beans in tact and the other half creamed. Because of the mass, the beans will continue to cook after the heat is turned off — keep that in mind if you want more whole beans.
The beans (regardless of the ratio of intact beans) should be able to seep into rice a little, but should not run from the rice. When you stir the beans, you should have some resistance, but it should not be hard to stir. Another test is to scoop beans into a large spoon and tilt the spoon on it’s side (like you’re serving them). The beans should come off of the spoon after a quick hesitation. If the beans thicken too much while they cool down, you can always add more water. If the beans are too thin, turn up the heat a little. If they are too thick, add water.
Serve over brown rice. I like a little less rice than beans but go with what you like. Garnish with chopped parsley or chopped green onion.
Notes
Some people will smash beans to get it creamy. Miss Cherry School of Cooking says the only reason you would smash a bean is because you didn’t cook it long enough. Read as — don’t smash your beans!
No tasso, use 1 pound of heavily smoked sausage or other smoked meat that your paws can grab.
I’m not always brand specific, but I find Camellia beans get creamier than other brands. I’m not going to say the creamiest, because I haven’t tried every single brand.
High altitude. Good luck! I don’t know the max altitude you can cook creamy beans, but I know you can’t do it at 7,300 feet. I simmered beans one time for 13 hours at 7,300 feet and they were still fully in tact. I smashed the beans and hung my head in shame. After that, I used canned beans and still smashed them. It is not the same, but if you need a fix, it will do.
Timing should never be an indicator of doneness. It should be a ballpark. One of my readers sent me a photo of her beans after cooking for 3.5 hours and they were perfect.
A tip from an aunt is if you’re using a seasoning meat you aren’t familiar with the level of pepper in it, you can add the pepper in the recipe towards the end of cooking. This will allow you not to have food that is too peppery.
Feel free to adjust the level of spice as you see fit. If you haven’t had this style of red beans before, they usually have a little pepper after taste, but pepper should not be in the forefront of flavor.
