Email to Cat      

Monday's Red Beans & Rice

Source of Recipe

From "Besh Big Easy" by John Besh


Recipe Introduction

"It's a tradition in NOLA to eat red beans and rice on Monday. Here's my Big Easy way to cook rice: Put a couple of tablespoons chicken fat, oil, or butter in a saucepan; add some chopped onion; sweat it down; then add a bay leaf and a pinch of salt. Soften the onions, add the rice, and stir to coat until the grains are shiny. Add stock or water: Two parts liquid to one part rice. Stir, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 2 tablespoons bacon fat or oil
â—¦ 1 onion, chopped
â—¦ ½ green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
â—¦ 1 stalk celery, chopped
â—¦ 1 pound dried red kidney beans, soaked in water overnight and drained
â—¦ 1 smoked ham hock
â—¦ 3 bay leaves
â—¦ Salt and pepper
â—¦ Tabasco
â—¦ 4 to 6 cups cooked white rice
â—¦ 2 green onions, chopped


Recipe

Heat the bacon fat in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and sweat the onions, bell peppers, and celery. Once the onions become translucent, add the beans, ham hock, bay leaves, and water to cover by 2 inches. Raise the heat, bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and cover the pot.

Let the beans slowly simmer for 2 hours, stirring from time to time to make sure they do not stick and adding water to keep them covered by at least an inch. Continue cooking the beans until they become so tender they begin to fall apart and become creamy when stirred.

Remove the ham hock from the pot and take the meat off the bone. Roughly chop and return to the pot. Season with salt, pepper, and Tabasco. Serve the beans in bowls topped with white rice and green onions.

Serves 6