merlyn_4401 | (no subject)

First some explanation and back story. My mom made red beans quite frequently when I was growing up (it was one of teh two default dishes when we had company). She always used her mom's recipe, which used ham hocks. I hate ham hocks. I hate the overly salty, fatty meat that comes off of them. Then one spring I spent a week with my aunt, who made red beans with sausage. I never looked back. To me, that was the way red beans was always supposed to be made. I found this recipe in southern living (which, if anyone cares, is probably THE best line of cookbooks ever published. I have never ever had an issue with one of their recipes - they uniformly turn out well and are delicious). It's a soupier red beans - much more liquidy than what you would find in a restaurant, for example. No plate and fork here. Need a bowl and a spoon. But it is delicious, because the rice soaks up the broth. NOM NOM NOM.

I also didn't take a picture of all the ingredients, because this is a 3 hour process, but I got shots of all of them eventually. :)

So, first you take a 1 pound bag of dried red beans and put them in a pot.

Cover them with about 2 inches of water. Cover and let soak for 8 hours.

Drain them, and add fresh water. Amount doesn't matter - I usually go about 1/2 inch over the beans.

Add 1/4 lb salt pork. Turn it on high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.

While that's cooking, chop enough onion for 3 cups, a bunch of green onions, 1 cup parsley, 1 cup green pepper, and 2 cloves garlic.

Amounts don't matter all that much - a little more or less onion won't hurt. You'll also need 1 tsp red pepper, 1 tsp black pepper, 3 dashes hot sauce, 1 TBSP worcestershire sauce, 1 8 oz can tomato sauce, 1/4 tsp oregano, and 1/4 tsp thyme.

Add all of that to the pot.

Stir it up really well, cover, and simmer for 60 minutes.

Now cut up 2 lbs sausage. I use turkey kielbasa, but you can use any hard sausage. Andouille would be good, if you like it (I don't).

Throw that in the pot and cook, uncovered, for 45 minutes.

Done!

Don't forget to make your rice.

Dinner is served.

Oh, and just because it's cute, look what Alex found in the side yard.

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That looks good. Does it reheat well?

VERY well. Also freezes well. :D

OMG so hungry. :(

Awww, did he give you the rose?

Yup - he wanted to plant it so it could grow, but settled for putting it in a vase on the table :)

Yep! It's now trimmed down and in a vase on the dining room table. :)

Oh God, those beans look good.
Haha, it's as big as he is!

OM NOM NOM NOM.

I like your foodie posts with the pictures. Also, when will the talent fall upon my head to cook? I can't think things up ahead of time.

I just put aside some time on the weekend to plan out the meals for the week and do the shopping. It takes some effort, but it's worth it to not have to figure out dinner every night.

Hahha I am so glad you posted this! Every time you said red beans and rice, I thought that was all it was and kept thinking "How un-Merylin!"
This looks nummy, now I'm off to Wiki half the ingredients to see if I can work out what they translate into in Scot's! :P