Red Beans and Rice

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Red Beans and Rice

This is the way red beans and rice were cooked in the old days—loaded with meat and steeped in a rich, natural gravy. You must include a large ham bone, whose marrow gives the beans that creamy texture and distinctive smoky flavor. Many supermarkets now carry only preboned hams, and you may have difficulty finding ham bones. Ask your local butcher for a bone. Ham bones freeze well.

If you have any red beans left over, they freeze beautifully. Just add a little water and perhaps a pinch of salt when you reheat them.

Baked ham is preferred over country or smoked ham in this and all other New Orleans bean dishes. Smoked ham is too salty and will unbalance the seasonings. Pickled pork is pork shoulder marinated in brine for over a week. New Orleans markets regularly carry it, but elsewhere you probably will not find it. A good substitute for pickled pork is salt pork; with salt pork eliminate all other salt in the recipe.

Recipe feeds 8 or more.

 Ingredients:

2 pounds dried red (kidney) beans, soaked overnight in cold water to cover.

2 cups chopped onion

½ cup thinly sliced green scallion tops

½ cup chopped green pepper

1 1/3 Tablespoon finely minced garlic

2 Tablespoons finely minced fresh parsley

1 pound seasoned (baked) ham, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 pound pickled pork cut into large chunks*

1 large ham bone with some meat on it, sawed into 4 to 5 inch lengths

1 Tablespoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper pods

2 whole bay leaves, broken into quarters

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon dried basil

2 quarts cold water or chicken broth, approximately

Boiled Rice

Drain the soaked beans in a colander and put them, along with all the other ingredients into a heavy 8 to 10 quart pot or kettle, adding just enough of the cold water or broth to cover. Bring to a oil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer on low heat for 2 1/3 to 3 hours, or until the beans are tender and a thick natural gravy has formed. Add about 1 cup of water toward the end of cooking if the mixture appears too dry. During cooking, stir frequently and scrape down the sides and across the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or spatula to prevent scorching. (If you use a heavy pot and very low heat—just high enough to keep the barest simmer going—you should have no problem with beans sticking to the pot during cooking.) Stir the entire mixture thoroughly just once about every half hour.

When the beans are cooked, turn off the heat. To serve, ladle about 1 ½ cups of beans, with meat and gravy, over a portion (about 2/3 cup) of boiled rice.

 Notes

·        **Substitute ham hocks for pickled pork, as desired. I was unable to find pickled pork and used ham hocks instead. I didn't use a ham bone. I wish I had had one, but I didn't.

   This recipe was so delicious! I will want to make it again and again!