I recently cooked Disco's BBQ "fried" Chicken for the guys @ the firehouse and as a side dish made a pot of New Orleans Creamy Style Redbeans and rice along with jalapeno and cheese cornbread. I posted pics. up for Disco and he suggested I post up the recipe for the beans. So with his urging, here is a very old family recipe for New Orleans Style red beans and rice....
We eat a LOT of redbeans here in Louisiana as most of you know... My favorite way to eat red beans is creamy New Orleans style. I'll bet some of you are thinking- "there are styles of red beans?"
The answer is "Yes."
Creamy New Orleans style red beans are cooked to the point that most of the beans break up and cooked until the busted beans smooth out and thicken the pot. Usually two meats are used in the dish- but always some style of ham as one of the meats. I'll make it with a hambone when I have one around, but this time I used my tasso for the ham and my Cajun smoke sausage for the other meat.
First and foremost, you absolutely positively MUST use Camellia brand redbeans. These are the gold standard that all others are compared in Louisiana. I do not know what it is about these beans, but it absolutely does make a difference.
Second, must soak the beans overnight- or at the minimum 12 hours prior to cooking. The beans just won't cook right unless you soak them. And we will be cooking these beans most of the day. I turned the fire on my beans @ 10:30am to have them ready for 5:30pm that night.
Ok, now that we have that out of the way,
Step 1-rinse and wash your beans, remove any debris and discolored beans. fill the pot of dry beans with enough water to cover the beans by at least 2" of water. put them on the stove (no fire) and leave them there overnight. The next morning while your coffee is brewing, pour out the soaking water and refill with water. do this 2~3 times to rinse the beans good. You should notice small bubbles when you first look into the pot in the morning. This is a good thing... the beans have plumped up and rehydrated. The beginning of germination is occurring. The germination is key- this is what transforms the carbohydrates that lead to gas in your intestinal tract. What is left, good bacteria is now breaking it down, which is the reason for the bubbles you see in the pot in the morning! So ALWAYS soak your beans!
Now that your beans are good and rinsed, refill the pot with water to 2" above the beans. Now add 1 bay leaf for each pound of beans. put them on the stove and bring to a hard boil. This is important-the hard boil breaks down the slightly toxic chemical that is in redbeans. You should see a greyish foam rise to the surface-that is a good thing. skim that off and discard it. Hard boil the beans for 20 minutes. Once this is done, reduce heat to a low simmer and add 3 TBSPS Louisiana Hot Sauce. If you prefer it a little spicy, use Tabasco. Now...just let them be...stir every now and then to keep them from sticking.
About 3 hours prior to serving time, slice up your meats. Per pound of beans I recommend: 1# ham (or tasso) and 1.5# of sausage or andouille. You will also need 1.5# of yellow or white onions and 1 medium bell pepper cut into 1/2" dice, and 1 TBSP of minced garlic.
Once all that is chopped up, take a black iron pot along with a little oil and fry down your meats on med-high heat to get a little color on it. Then add in the onions, and once the onions turn clear (about 20 minutes later) add in the bell pepper and garlic. stew that down until the veggies are good and browned. Don't forget to stir those beans though!
(The pic. is after I added everything to the pot, I continued cooking this for about another 30 minutes until the veggies were good and browned)
Add the sausage and veggies to the pot of beans. Add 1/2 TBSP. of salt per pound of beans and stir in good and let it cook some more. Have a beer... make some corn bread...fry some chicken....make some rice....and don't forget to stir the beans every now and then.
If you used tasso, you probably will not need to add any pepper. But if you used ham, now is the time to check the seasoning about 20 minutes before serving. Add what is needed, fish the bay leaves out of the pot and discard those. And LET'S EAT!!!!
Total cooking time for this is at least 6 hours... It takes that long for the beans to get creamy and rich. I promise you that cooked this way there will not be much gas left in the pot, so no tootin in yer pants! And that is why I LOVE New Orleans Style Redbeans and Rice!
We eat a LOT of redbeans here in Louisiana as most of you know... My favorite way to eat red beans is creamy New Orleans style. I'll bet some of you are thinking- "there are styles of red beans?"
The answer is "Yes."
Creamy New Orleans style red beans are cooked to the point that most of the beans break up and cooked until the busted beans smooth out and thicken the pot. Usually two meats are used in the dish- but always some style of ham as one of the meats. I'll make it with a hambone when I have one around, but this time I used my tasso for the ham and my Cajun smoke sausage for the other meat.
First and foremost, you absolutely positively MUST use Camellia brand redbeans. These are the gold standard that all others are compared in Louisiana. I do not know what it is about these beans, but it absolutely does make a difference.
Second, must soak the beans overnight- or at the minimum 12 hours prior to cooking. The beans just won't cook right unless you soak them. And we will be cooking these beans most of the day. I turned the fire on my beans @ 10:30am to have them ready for 5:30pm that night.
Ok, now that we have that out of the way,
Step 1-rinse and wash your beans, remove any debris and discolored beans. fill the pot of dry beans with enough water to cover the beans by at least 2" of water. put them on the stove (no fire) and leave them there overnight. The next morning while your coffee is brewing, pour out the soaking water and refill with water. do this 2~3 times to rinse the beans good. You should notice small bubbles when you first look into the pot in the morning. This is a good thing... the beans have plumped up and rehydrated. The beginning of germination is occurring. The germination is key- this is what transforms the carbohydrates that lead to gas in your intestinal tract. What is left, good bacteria is now breaking it down, which is the reason for the bubbles you see in the pot in the morning! So ALWAYS soak your beans!
Now that your beans are good and rinsed, refill the pot with water to 2" above the beans. Now add 1 bay leaf for each pound of beans. put them on the stove and bring to a hard boil. This is important-the hard boil breaks down the slightly toxic chemical that is in redbeans. You should see a greyish foam rise to the surface-that is a good thing. skim that off and discard it. Hard boil the beans for 20 minutes. Once this is done, reduce heat to a low simmer and add 3 TBSPS Louisiana Hot Sauce. If you prefer it a little spicy, use Tabasco. Now...just let them be...stir every now and then to keep them from sticking.
About 3 hours prior to serving time, slice up your meats. Per pound of beans I recommend: 1# ham (or tasso) and 1.5# of sausage or andouille. You will also need 1.5# of yellow or white onions and 1 medium bell pepper cut into 1/2" dice, and 1 TBSP of minced garlic.
Once all that is chopped up, take a black iron pot along with a little oil and fry down your meats on med-high heat to get a little color on it. Then add in the onions, and once the onions turn clear (about 20 minutes later) add in the bell pepper and garlic. stew that down until the veggies are good and browned. Don't forget to stir those beans though!
(The pic. is after I added everything to the pot, I continued cooking this for about another 30 minutes until the veggies were good and browned)
Add the sausage and veggies to the pot of beans. Add 1/2 TBSP. of salt per pound of beans and stir in good and let it cook some more. Have a beer... make some corn bread...fry some chicken....make some rice....and don't forget to stir the beans every now and then.
If you used tasso, you probably will not need to add any pepper. But if you used ham, now is the time to check the seasoning about 20 minutes before serving. Add what is needed, fish the bay leaves out of the pot and discard those. And LET'S EAT!!!!
Total cooking time for this is at least 6 hours... It takes that long for the beans to get creamy and rich. I promise you that cooked this way there will not be much gas left in the pot, so no tootin in yer pants! And that is why I LOVE New Orleans Style Redbeans and Rice!
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