Dressed Up Red Beans And Rice Food

RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Place the beans in a large bowl or pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Let soak for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and set aside.
• In a large pot, heat the bacon grease over medium-high heat. Add the tasso and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the onions, celery and bell peppers to the grease in the pot. Season with the salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the bay leaves, parsley, thyme, sausage, and ham hocks, and cook, stirring, to brown the sausage and ham hocks, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the beans and stock or water, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and starting to thicken, about 2 hours. (Should the beans become too thick and dry, add more water, about 1/4 cup at a time.)
• Remove from the heat and with the back of a heavy spoon, mash about 1/4 of the beans against the side of the pot. Continue to cook until the beans are tender and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves.
• Serve over rice and garnish with green onions.

DRESSED-UP RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat.
• Add onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and garlic to pan. Sautee for 3 minutes or until soft.
• Stir in sugar, pepper, oil, and vinegar. Allow to come to a boil, then add beans and cook for 3 minutes or until beans are heated through.
• Stir in kale. Cook for 3 more minutes or until kale is wilted. (The kale should still be bright green, not dull and turning brown.).
• Divide bean mixture in half and serve each half over one cup of rice.

RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Put the beans in a large bowl and add enough stock to cover by about 1 inch. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. (Water is not recommended for soaking the beans as it adds nothing to the flavor and does not soften the beans quite as well as stock does.)
• Add 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil to a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the celery and bell peppers, and cook until softened, slightly brown and giving off a pleasant aroma, about 3 minutes. Then add the seasoning meats and chopped garlic, and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Divide in half and reserve.
• Remove the beans from the refrigerator (they will have expanded nicely and their skins should be bursting by now). Add the beans and soaking liquid to a large stockpot, and add additional stock to cover the beans by several inches.
• Set the stockpot on the stove, bring it to a slight boil and reduce to a heavy simmer. Stirring vigorously, add the liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, granulated garlic, granulated onion, black pepper, brown sugar if using, bay leaves and half of the seasoning meat mixture. Simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. (To get "New Orleans cream-style" beans, which are preferable, you can continue to simmer until the beans break down, about 1 hour more.) Season with salt, remove from the heat and let cool in the stockpot to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight. (The beans can be eaten after seasoning with salt, but refrigerating them overnight improves the flavor of the dish.)
• Remove the stockpot from the refrigerator and gently reheat on the stove, stirring in 1/2 cup stock to loosen up the coagulated bean mixture. When the beans reach a boil, reduce to a heavy simmer, stirring frequently as to not let the beans at the bottom of the pot burn. Taste and adjust the seasoning as desired.
• Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the andouille sausage and cook until brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side.
• Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a small stockpot. Add the rice, bring it back to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Cover the stockpot, remove from the heat and let steam for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and transfer the rice to a small baking sheet to cool slightly.
• Reheat the remaining seasoning meat mixture. Divide the seasoning meat mixture, beans and andouille sausage among bowls, top with a scoop of rice, and sprinkle with the green onions and parsley. Serve with hot sauce and mustard.

RED BEANS & RICE SOUL FOOD RECIPE

Steps:

• Rinse and pick through beans, discarding any misshapen beans or debris. Place beans in large bowl. Add enough water to cover beans by at least 2 inches. Let stand overnight.
• Drain beans, discarding soaking liquid; set beans aside. Cook bacon in Dutch oven or deep large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings in pan. Drain bacon on paper towels. Meanwhile, add onions, peppers and garlic to reserved drippings; cook and stir 5 min. or until crisp-tender.
• Return bacon to pan with beans, ham hock, broth, 2 Tbsp. parsley, bay leaf and seasonings. Bring to boil; simmer on low heat 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until beans are tender and liquid is thickened, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook rice as directed on package during the last 30 min. of the bean cooking time.
• Remove ham hock and bay leaf; discard bay leaf. Shred meat from ham hock; discard bone and any fat. Stir meat into bean mixture. Serve over rice; top with remaining parsley.

CHEF JOHN'S RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Place beans in a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain and rinse.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir sausage in hot oil until oils slightly release from sausage and edges brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir onion, celery, and poblano pepper into sausage; cook and stir until vegetables soften and start to turn translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir garlic into sausage mixture; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Stir red beans, chicken broth, ham hock, bay leaves, black pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce into the sausage mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours. Add salt and continue simmering until beans are soft, meat is tender, and desired consistency is reached, 1 1/2 to 2 hours more. Season with salt.
• Spoon rice into bowls, ladle red beans mixture over rice, and top with green onion.