Recipe: Authentic Red Beans and Rice

Every time I make red beans and rice, I wonder why in the world it took me so long to do it.  It's thrifty, it makes my husband drool, it's one of the simplest freezer meal recipes I have, and it makes a ton of food.  What's not to love?  Check out the leftovers from dinner last night.

I doubled the recipe, and it's enough to feed us once a week for the next 6-8 weeks, in addition to leftover lunches.  Isabelle's portions already have rice in them, so they're ready to go on nights when we're eating soup or some other food that's not toddler friendly.  Those cute little 2 ounce green containers are left over from my baby food making days.  I had to resort to using those because I ran out of the smaller ziplock containers for her portions.  At Izzy's age, she'll need to eat two or three containers of those 2 ounce containers of red beans and rice to be happy.    

Here's the recipe.  It's my grandmother's recipe that originated at Brennan's restaurant in New Orleans.  With this version of my grandmother's recipe, there's no need to soak the beans overnight.  Be sure to start cooking early--the beans take a long time to cook, but most of the time is spent simmering.   

June's Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

1 bag of dry red beans
1 c. onion
1/2 c. bell pepper
1 c. celery
1 ham hock
1 pound of sausage, preferably a cajun sausage, such as Savoie's, Richard's, or Manda.
water
1 stick of butter
1 tablespoon of dry parsley
Cooked rice

Directions
Put the first 6 ingredients into a large pot. Add enough water to cover the ingredients. Boil and then reduce to a simmer for an hour and a half (or longer!), until the beans are tender enough to mash one with a fork. Lower heat and add one stick of butter, cooking until the butter is melted. Stir gently. The red beans should have developed a bit of a gravy. If they haven't, remove a cup or so of beans and mash, then return them to the pot and stir into the beans. Garnish with parsley and serve over rice.

If you want a printable recipe card, click here to visit my recipe on allrecipes.com. 

This is what it looks like before you boil and simmer it.

If you double it, you only need one ham hock for the whole pot.  You can also add three bags of beans when you double it instead of two to stretch the ingredients.  Feel free to cut down on the butter.  I did, and it was still yummy.  Add just enough butter to make the gravy a nice texture.  I also used one pound of turkey sausage and one pound of hot Savoie's, and the difference was not noticeable at all and definitely reduced the overall fat content!  And we use always use whole grain brown rice.  I know that these are "cheats" to make it healthier, but we think it's worth it, and the result is still fabulous. 

These beans almost make you want to say BAM!, but since Emeril isn't Cajun, maybe the beans will make you want to say "poo-yie" or "mais la" or something.  And if you don't know what either of those phrases mean, well I'm just sorry.  That's a different post entirely.

I realize I don't look or sound Cajun, but you'll have to forgive me for inheriting my mother's half German genes.  As my husband would say, "don't let the blonde hair fool you--she's Cajun, and she can cook gumbo."   Dad grew up in Opelousas, LA and did not learn to speak English until he went to school.  I think that counts as Cajun.  For the sake of accuracy, you must know that Red Beans and Rice are Creole, not Cajun, but we won't get into that discussion.