Red Beans and Rice

This is winter comfort fare. 2 starches in one meal! Better have your jogging shoes handy. Po' folks cooking at its best. A traditional way for Southern Louisiana folks to get enough carbs to ready themselves for another day working out in the fields. I've added a few savory flavor boosters. Namely, chicken broth and sausage.

I love beans all by themselves. Or with hot cornbread. So, I've included my bean recipe. Red beans and rice is a great way to use up leftover beans, as you only need about 1/3 #, and most packages are 1 #.

1 pkg. red beans
salt, cr. bl. pepper to taste
2 cl. garlic
2 strips bacon, chopped; or chunk of ham,chopped; or ham bone
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, quartered, diced
1 stalk celery, diced

Soak the beans according to pkg. directions, drain. Cook the beans and all other ingredients with prescribed water amount. The key is to quickly boil the beans over very high heat. Then reduce the heat to med.-lo or even lower. Cover the beans with the lid just tilted. Simmer for about 2 hours until tender.

This will also be a good time to give my rice recipe. Use it any time you need rice in a dish.

1 pkg. brown rice
chicken broth, in place of pkg. directions for water
1/4 yellow onion, diced
2 cl. garlic, minced, 1 stalk celery, diced
1 tbsp. butter
salt, cr. bl. pepper to taste
1 tbsp. Tony Chachere's seasoning, or other seasoned salt

Slice 1/2 # Southern style smoked sausage and fry in a skillet until browned. Saute 1/4 diced yellow onion in some of the sausage grease. Add the sausage, onion, and 1/3 of the beans to the rice and bake @350 for about 10". This is just to let the flavors mingle a bit.