Right after baby arrived, my mom made us this red beans and rice dish and so many of you requested it! She’s been making it for our family for so long that she knows it all by heart, but I made her stop and write down all the directions so you all could make it too 🙂 It’s so simple, and so good, and always reminds me of growing up in New Orleans. Feel free to adjust spice to be more or less {I always add a little Tony Chachere‘s to mine!} I hope you enjoy it!
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb red beans (soak in water overnight)
2 quarts water
1 ham bone (I use the pre-packaged ham bits)
2 lbs smoked sausage, cut into small pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped green pepper
3/4 cup chopped green onion
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
1 teaspoon freshly minced parsley (I use dried parsley flakes)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Rinse beans well, and drain in a colander. In a large pot with a lid, add beans and cover with water. Add the ham and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes. Add sausage and cook, covered, over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, onions, celery, green pepper, green onions and bay leaf. Continue cooking, covered, over low heat for  1 1/2 hour, until beans are soft. Add Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, parsley, and salt. Simmer, over low heat, for 5 minutes. Remove bay leaf and serve over rice.
MOM NOTES: I use the same ingredients, but I just throw them all in the pot at the same time and cook over a very low heat until done 3-4 hours. If you like your beans thicker (Dad likes them like that) then mash some of the beans with a potato masher or use a big spoon and mash them against the side of the pot. ALWAYS remove the bay leaf– no amount of cooking will get that thing soft and it can cut a person’s mouth or cause choking. I also cook the red beans in a crock pot– this is nice because you don’t have to be around to stir them to keep them from sticking. The only change in the recipe from above is, use less water. Just cover the beans and ingredients (Annette uses 4 cups only). If at the end of the cooking time there appears to be too much liquid, just put beans in a pot on top of the stove and let some of the liquid cook off. There is always less liquid the next day and the flavor is actually better on the 2nd day. Another tip! When a recipe calls for crushed garlic, I mince the garlic to a very fine mince, then sprinkle the salt called for in the recipe on top of the minced garlic and then with the flat side of a large knife, I smash the garlic into the salt. It works great. Those goofy garlic presses are wasteful and messy! Good luck!
