This recipe could only be described as one of our country's oldest go-to recipes. Actually this is a Creole dish, not Cajun (as has become the more common term for southern Louisianan cooking in other parts of the country). The wealthy planters who fled the slave uprisings in the Caribbean and settled in New Orleans brought this dish with them, and the people there just tweaked it to perfection, das right.
Served on the traditional laundering day of the South, Mondays, it often included the leftover meats, ham specifically, that had been served during the Sunday feast. Sausage has become the most common addition I've seen in LA, sometimes served on the side but mostly included to flavor the beans.
We always sprinkle some file ("fee'-lay", pardon the lack of accent mark) powder, the green powder you can barely see above, on the rice for flavor and a little texture. These are just ground sassafras leaves, believe it or not, and introduced to the Cajuns by their Native American brethren. The file is a Cajun addition, and not strictly true to the Creole dish; but hey, if somebody hadn't tweaked the original red beans & rice, we wouldn't have this beauty recipe, now would we?
Below the recipe I've made some notations on how to cheapen the dish further. This recipe is actually the "deluxe" version, but still comparably thrifty.
Red Beans & Rice
1 pound red beans, or 2 cups, dried
14 cups water, divided
2 bay leaves
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t basil
1 T paprika
3 t chicken bouillon granules
dash red pepper, to taste
dash white pepper, to taste
dash black pepper, to taste
salt, to taste (at the end only)
1/2 c chopped bell pepper
1/2 c chopped celery
1 c chopped white onion
pinch salt
1/4 c bacon grease
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced 1 inch thick, on the diagonal
1/2 cup dry white wine or sherry, optional
For serving:
Lousiana hot sauce (or Tabasco, Boone says)
file powder, optional
sourdough French bread, not optional
room temperature (or whipped) butter
1. You can soak the beans overnight, or do what I do: sort the beans for broken pieces, or little stones and things. Rinse well in a colander. Place in a pot with 8 cups COLD water. Bring to a full, rolling boil and boil 2 minutes. Cover the pot, remove from heat, and "quick soak" for 1 hour.
2. Drain, and rinse the beans lightly. Cover with 6 cups of HOT tap water, and place on medium/low, and simmer uncovered. Add herbs and seasonings. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 1/2-3 hours (depending on how you like your beans). Red beans are usually kept fairly firm, with just a little "gravy" being produced by the beans.
3. Meanwhile, just after the beans start simmering, saute the chopped veggies slowly (these are known as "the trinity" in LA cuisine) in the bacon grease until very, very soft and just starting to brown, sprinkling with a little salt while cooking. Remove with slotted spoon and add directly to beans. Raise the skillet heat, add sausages till they just start to sizzle and brown (overcooking causes them to be tough). Remove with slotted spoon and reserve on plate, covered. Drain the grease from the skillet into the beans.
4. If you have 1/2 a cup of wine, or a little sherry or something, toss that in the hot pan and scrub the bottom with a spoon to deglaze, pour that directly in the beans as well.
5. Add the sausages about 45 minutes before serving, adjust seasonings and thickness to taste.
Okay, that concludes the full, fancy "deluxe version".
Here's the CHEAPEST EATS!!! version.
Soak 2 cups
in 8 cups cold
overnight.
Drain, cover with 6 cups cold
Bring to boil, reduce to simmer.
Add:
[bacon grease. hyello.]
and some
to taste.
Really, you need some, okay, lots of
but I understand if ya' just. don't. have it.
Serve over, alongside and/or under:
Ta-Dahhhhhhh!
CHEAPEST EATS!!!
