It's supposed to wintry mix all day here on Sunday, and I'm already drooling lustily about the things I'm going to do in the kitchen all day.
Russia did not classify beer as an alcoholic beverage until 2011.
Red Beans and Rice
1 pound dry Red kidney Beans
3 bay leaves
7 cups water
1 pound kielbasa sausage (sliced)
1 ham hock
1 celery stalks (diced)
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
1 red bell pepper (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
3 teaspoons Slap Ya Mama Creole Seasoning, plus more to taste
1 bunch green onions (diced)
several dashes hot sauce, to each bowl
8 cups cooked rice (to serve)
In an extra-large stockpot, add red kidney beans. Fill water to top then place in fridge. Let beans soak at least 10-12 hours. I soak them overnight.
Drain water from beans. Stir occasionally.
In a large stockpot, add diced celery, green pepper, garlic and diced onions. Brown over medium heat in oil (until onions are translucent), stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add beans, bay leaves, parsley and 7 cups water. Bring to boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer covered, about 8-12 hours, stirring occasionally. Beans should thicken in the pot. You may need to add a little water the longer you cook.
With 30 minutes remaining, slice the sausage and brown in a separate pan (you can skip browing and) add to pot. Add more or less Creole Seasoning according to taste preference. Continue to cook until the beans are tender and creamy. TIP: The texture should not be soupy or watery. If it is, simply keep cooking until the mixture is very thick and almost paste-like.
Remove from the heat. Remove bay leaves. Use a potato masher to crush most of the beans. Pro tip: consistency should be almost like a gravy and not soupy at all.
Serve with cooked rice. Spoon beans into a dish. Add chopped green onions. Add several dashes of hot sauce (I like Cholula, but any hot sauce works). Serve with rice in the same bowl.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6-12 hours
Total Time: all freaking day but not a lot of prep time
Yield Servings: a bunch
Just Julia Child's recipe basically, except that I'm gonna streamline things a little bit by skipping the simmering of the bacon, not swapping back and forth between oven and stovetop, and not cooking the pearl onions separately (in my food, cook the hell out of the onions, or don't put them in there at all).
This originally started out with those two substitutes. I think slap your mama is better and I've liked kielbasa more than andouille. But those are fine substitutions. This recipe is years worth of tinkering. When I first started making this I put the sausage in early and the sausage loses its sausage consistency. The key is to mash the beans up so that it isn't soupy, but has almost a gravy consistency. I use a potato masher. The actual masher and not the German grenade from World War II.