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| From Nola Cuisine Images – (reedited) |
Where do I start on this topic? How about Louis Armstrong! This was his comfort food, his “birthright” as he once said, as I’m sure it is for many New Orleanians. He actually used to sign his name Red Beans and Ricely Yours, Louis Armstrong. I’ve been a huge Louis Armstrong fan since I discovered him when I was a kid, so it’s hard not to think of him when eating a big plate of Red Beans. I’ve tracked down two different red beans recipes from Louis Armstrong which I will share in the future.
Everyone has their own recipe for Red Beans & Rice, just like most great New Orleans classics, most of which probably change a little with each cooking, usually depending on either:
what’s in the refrigerator, or what looked good at the store.
This one is made with my homemade Tasso, and homemade Andouille Sausage, so it has a rich, down home smoky flavor.
This traditional Monday lunch in New Orleans, stems from lean times, and a good cook’s sense of how to make something, out of nothing! It’s my absolute favorite thing to cook, I make it once a week, usually on Monday, staying with tradition. I never follow a recipe, but you can always find nine, or so, cookbooks open on my table when I’m cooking it. I always search for a new technique, they almost always turn out good, but once in awhile, there is magic in the pot.
So here is some traditional Monday comfort food, and anyone who loves New Orleans, can certainly use any comfort they can get these days.
Red Beans & Ricely Yours – Danno
Red Beans & Rice Recipe
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
1 Cup Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Bell Pepper, chopped
1/4 Cup Celery, Chopped
1 Cup Andouille Sausage, Cubed
1 Cup Tasso, Cubed
1/2 lb. Small Red Beans (soaked overnight or for at least a few hours)
1 Tbsp Fresh Garlic, Minced
3 1/2 Cups Chicken Stock (You could certainly use water)
3 Fresh Bay Leaves
1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar (When I don’t use Pickle Meat, I add a little vinegar because I like the flavor it lends. Pickle Meat makes wonderful Red Beans by the way; recipe forthcoming.)
1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce (I learned this from Louis Armstrong’s Recipe)
1 Tbsp Italian Parsley, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced on the bias
1/2 Recipe Creole Boiled Rice
Mix together the Holy Trinity (Onions, Celery, Bell Pepper). Drain the beans.
Melt the butter over medium heat.
Add 1/2 of the Holy Trinity, 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning, Tasso, and the Andouille, turn the heat to medium high. Cook this for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to get some color.
Add the beans and cook stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.
Add the Chicken Stock or Water, Garlic, Bay Leaves, the remaining Trinity and Creole Seasoning. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let this simmer for 2- 2 1/2 Hours. The first hour is low maintenance; an occasional stir and making sure the beans are covered with liquid. The second hour, you want to check back a little more often, the beans will really start to absorb some liquid and you don’t want them to stick.
After the beans have cooked for two hours, add the Tomato Sauce, the Parsley and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Make your Rice. Cook the beans for another half hour.
To Serve:
Remove the Bay Leaves. Mound a half cup of Rice each, onto two serving plates, Cover with a generous helping of the Red Beans, Garnish with the remaining Green Onions. Make sure there is a bottle of hot sauce on the table. Perfect compliments to this meal are a simple vinaigrette salad, Good Crusty French Bread, and your favorite Ice Cold Beer.
Serves 2-3
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Comments are up and running again.
Thanks, Danno! I’m going to a Red Beans and Rice Benefit this evening….so I will have to put off making this…for now! 😉
RB&R-ly yours, jill
Hope the benefit was a success!
I’ve been listening to the radio a lot lately, because of my location in the remote, yet tourist busy area of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada.
While listening to CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – Radio), there was an entire two hours dedicated to The Bean, and more specifically, Red Beans and Rice. Now, I’m caught up in it. I have yet to try it, and I’m glad I could find your recipe. It is the next thing I will make in my kitchen.
Thank you very much,
Kai Geddes
I made the red beans and rice – after making the tasso and the pickled meat – and it was fantastic. Thanks for all this info. Click my name to see a pic of the red beans and rice.
At what point do you put the Red Wine Vinegar or did I skim over that part?
CAJUN,
Cook cajun all my life, never added red wine vinegar. Changed whole favor of red beans and rice. Old dogs(cajuns)can learn new tricks.
The Crazy Cajun
Mack
can’t wait to try
I am planning food for my sister’s wedding and want to use this red beans and rice recipe. It says this recipe makes 2-3 servings. What is the serving size?
Yes you can add vinegar! That is the special taste the pickled meat adds after all. Red Beans are very good with sides of pickled items, esp. okra or cocktail onions.
This is an excellent recipe, a little on the ‘soul’ side. To really go over the top cook them in ham stock instead of water …
Wow, I never make less than 2lbs of beans though.
Hooboy! Now, this is some good eatin’, my friends. I ordered some Andouille from Jacob’s last week and made this for last night’s Sunday dinner using the real deal Andouille. And, speaking of the real deal, this am IT! I think doing the homemade Creole seasoning helped send it over the top. I used this site’s seasoning recipe (http://www.nolacuisine.com/2005/07/22/creole-seasoning-recipe/) but used fresh herbs from the yard as well as added some Ancho powder and a little Aleppo pepper to twist it up some. I also added some more beans (not double) than the recipe called for. Anyway, thanks for a great recipe – it’s now in the permanent collection. I almost went after the leftovers for breakfast this morning…
When I was forced to stay in Virginia for a few weeks after Katrina, I wanted some comfort food and figured how hard could it be to find red bean fixins. Imagine my shock when I couldn’t get any pickled pork to season my beans. Love, Love the red wine vinegar tip!
People from N’awlins can’t do anything the EASY way, can they? LOL However, I haven’t tried a dish from there yet that I don’t absolutely LOVE. . . of course, putting the Trinity in everything helps, too!
Dude,
When do you add the vinegar?
Really love your site!! The only thing that I don’t get is why they call the trinity ( onions, celery, green pepper) the holy trinity. I heard it as the trinity years ago. I think cooks should not say holy because there is only one Holy Trinity. Other than that party on!!!!
Danno, in regard to your “make something out of nothing” statement, it should be noted that Red Beans and Rice is a quintessential West African dish, present in the US as a result of the Africans enslaved in the US. So making Red Beans and Rice, as well as Black Eyed Peas, was a tradition held on to and passed down in the US by people of African descent.
The same goes for the majority of Creole cooking. Much of it consists of African foods (okra, black eyed peas, red beans and rice, gumbo, peppered shrimp…heck, peppered everything) with a French “twist” (e.g. the roux).
My folk are from LA and my hubby is West African. I make our traditional Creole foods for him because the dishes are nearly identical to what he eats at home (except for the Cajun foods).
You have a great site here…
I have fixed red beans for 40+ years. I’ve cooked my moma’s, my grandmother’s, my Hispanic buddies’,
and even followed Paul Prudhomme’s recipe from one of his Cajun cookbooks. I prepared yours today
and must say, they are the best I’ve ever eaten. Thanks from The Woodlands, Tx.
You can pick up some great pickled meat at King’s Specialty meats if your ever in New Orleans.They cure all there meats in house.They have are well known for there pickled products. Kingsmeatmarket.com
This was my first time cooking red beans and rice. I doubled the recipe, and I can tell it would have been amazing. I made two mistakes: The first mistake was that I did not use your Creole seasoning recipe. The second mistake was that I added too much of the store bought Creole seasoning. I had doubled the recipe, except for the creole seasoning. I had only added 2 tbsp. per the recipe. We tasted it, and it was amazing! Then I realized that I had not doubled the Creole seasoning, so I decided to add 1 more tbsp., instead of the 2 that were called for (4 total). It came out salty. Totally my fault…I should not have messed with perfection. So for anyone out there that is planning to make this, be careful with your creole seasoning…salt was the first ingredient in mine. I plan to make this again, and double everything except the creole seasoning. I can’t wait to try your Shrimp Etouffee and Muffuletta! Great site, and thanks for sharing all of your wonderful recipes!