Red beans and rice

[Briza]

Bag of dried red beans
Water
2 Boxes Chicken broth (or your preferred chicken broth)
Bay leaf
Large pot w/ lid
Olive oil
Chopped Onion
Sliced Celery
Minced fresh garlic
Fresh minced Parsely
Salt/Pepper/and any dried or fresh herbs/seasonings you like/tolerate
White rice (I use Uncle Ben's)
Cornbread (I posted my cornbread recipe recently, but you can also make it easily from a package....The yellow Martha White package is my favorite...the one that requires milk and egg)


Sort beans to remove the bad ones.
Rinse beans in a strainer or colander.
Put beans in pot and cover w/ about 4 inches of water and bring to rolling boil
Boil a few minutes and then turn off heat and put lid on pot and soak for about an hour.
Drain water from pot and pour in chicken stock (and some water if needed) til beans are covered with at least 5-6 inches of liquid. ( I like my beans soupy). It is good to warm the water and chick broth before adding...cold broth and water might make the beans tough. Add bay leaf.
Bring beans to rolling boil again and then put lid on, but not completely on...leave some space for steam to escape and so that some of the liquid will evaporate. Turn down heat to about med, or to where the liquid is at a low boil.
While beans are cooking sautee the veggies lightly (except parsely) in olive oil til celery is about half cooked. Add the garlic towards the end of the sauteeing process, otherwise it may burn.
When beans are almost done ( usually takes 1-2 hrs) add the sauteed mixture and the fresh parsely and season to taste and continue cooking til beans are soft.

You can add a small piece of salt pork or hock or a piece of sausage for extra flavor and if you can tolerate those...but I have found that by sauteeing the veggies in olive oil before adding to the beans gives a really nice healthy flavor from the olive oil and also brings out the flavor of the veggies more than by just throwing the veggies in without sauteeing them first...and no worries about the sausage or salt pork being a trigger or too salty or fatty.

While beans are cooking make the rice following the recipe on the package.
Also make cornbread while beans are cooking.

Put rice and cornbread in individual bowls and top with the soupy beans. Delish.:)

[leelee88]

Yummy!!!

[Goldfinch]

Briza, you're a woman after my own heart! I usually saute onion, a little celery, carrot and garlic in olive oil in the same pot as I use to cook the beans, then add the beans til coated, then add the broth/stock/liquid. I like to use a light ham stock made from smoked ham shanks. The shanks have far more meat on them than hocks; I'm not into it, but my husband likes to add the meat back into his beans or make a ham salad sandwich with it. To totally eliminate the fat I make the broth ahead, then refrigerate and skim off all the fat and freeze the stock to use for my beans as needed. Cornbread, absolutely. Deeply satisfying! I find the ham stock is not a problem for me, and I can even tolerate throwing in one or two of those tiny red chile peppers at the beginning.

[Briza]

Yep, men always gotta have their meat, huh? I like spicy food so luckily I can tolerate chiles as long as they are fresh or dried. Can't tolerate the pickled ones or anything pickled. Where I live the small red round chile pequin grows wild like a weed.. they are so ubiquituous around here you can't even give them away! They may be tiny but they are HOT, so yeah, one or two will do ya for a pot of beans...they are just one step down on the heat level from habaneros.
Goldfinch, sounds like I'd be happy to eat beans at your house anytime:) I also often dice and sautee carrots and other veggies to add to my bean recipes.

[bluetou]

LOOKING GOOD!!
Thanks Briza!! love your food posts!! i was waiting for this recipe! thanks for posting! making it tomorrow!! :)
Thanks again!

Peace
:pray:

[leelee88]

I cooked some red beans and rice today.. You made me hungry for them!!!

[Briza]

Well of course, you live in La so they should be a staple of your diet :)
But i KNOW!! I am craving them now big time...did you make cornbread, too?
Of course before IC I made them more authentically...with venison sausage and more seasonings...but I have really come to love my scaled down version of them...and even my Cajun ex loved them.
How do you make yours? Being a Texan, I hope you don't think I have butchered the recipe! :lmao:

[leelee88]

Oh yeah I have to have my cornbread with my red beans!

I use dried red beans or when in a hurry I will use canned light red beans!! and water..I have never tried the chicken broth! But might try that.. Just watch some chicken broths if you are MSG sensitive! Swansan in loaded with MSG! So I will make my own..:)

I make mine with lots of sauté onions and red bell peppers and a few green bell peppers..And a few bay leaves and some garlic..I put mild sausage in mine I just do not eat it.. Well sometimes I cheat and eat a few pieces..lol I also fry my sausage first to get the grease out of it....As long as the sausage is not hot I do ok with a little of it..
Oh forgot to add The sausage I use is also beef sausage and I got that from my sister it is also homemade.. So please if anyone uses sausage read the ingredients..

[Briza]

Ah, that reminds me...I do put bay leaf in mine also. Will have to go back and add that to the recipe.
THe chicken stock or broth gives lots of extra flavor, and yes I do check the labels....I like the organic ones that come in a box that are low sodium, nonfat, and no msg. Yeah, occasionally I am able to handle a piece of venison sausage added towards the end to give a little flavor, but like you I don't eat it.

[leelee88]

Well I add the sausage cause as you know I have a BIG family.. I could just see me cooking red beans and rice with no meat..LMAO..They would be like HUH!!