Nontraditional, but... Red Beans & Rice is a classic stew, so most of the flavors melt together and only the andouille stands out. To give it a bit of brightness, I like to chop in some sweet bell pepper, red or green, about 30 minutes before serving. I then like to sprinkle green onions, jalapenos, and tomatoes just before serving. They really give things a nice freshness and a bit of texture. If you want crunch, croutons or oyster crackers are nice. I like to sprinkle Frank's Hot Sauce on it at tableside.

New Orleans Red Beans & Rice

In New Orleans (pronounced NOR-leens), Sunday is traditionally ham night, and on Monday, wash day, the leftover ham and the ham bone are used to make Red Beans and Rice, a traditional Creole classic main dish that can be prepped quickly and needs several hours to simmer. It has been thus forever. Even the estimable Louis Armstrong signed his autograph "Red beans and ricely yours".

Among the traditional ingredients are the Holy Trinity, andouille, a ham bone, and pickled pork. The Holy Trinity is at the foundation of much Louisiana cooking: 2 parts onion, 1 part green bell pepper, and 1 part celery. Andouille (pronounced on-DWEE) sausage is the spicy local Cajun classic made of coarsely ground pork, chopped onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, salt, cracked black pepper, and then smoked. The marrow in the ham bone adds flavor and richness. Pickled pork is common is New Orleans, but a little harder to find elsewhere. It is made by boiling cubes of fresh pork in vinegar, spices, and Prague powder #1 (a source of sodium nitrite, a preservative). I have substituted chopped ham in my recipe.

When I was a college student at the University of Florida subsisting on hot dogs mixed in a can of baked beans, we would often do weekend road trips to New Orleans, and that's where I had my first taste of the local stew. I can still taste "the world's best Beanie Wienies" as I described it to my friends. It was an early awakening that you could riff on a recipe and make something special.

New Orleans Red Beans & Rice Recipe

Preparation time: The beans should soak at least 6 hours or you can let them go up to 12 hours.
Everything else takes about 40 minutes to prepare and about 3 hours to cook.
Makes: Enough to serve 4 people about 2 cups each.
Serve with: A green salad, baguette, and Abita beer from New Orleans.

Ingredients
1/2 pound dried red (kidney) beans, or 2 cans (15 ounce each) of red kidney beans
4 strips of bacon
1 cup chopped cured ham
1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/2" disks
1 ham bone at least 4" long or a ham hock
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery, about 4 stalks
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
3 roma tomatoes, chopped
2 cups low salt chicken broth
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice

Nontraditional garnishes
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 jalapenos, seeds removed, chopped fine
2 roma tomatoes, chopped into 1/2" chunks

About the meats. None of these quantities is set in concrete. You can add more of any, or leave any out. But try to get a ham bone.

About the bacon. Although it adds flavor, it is here mainly for the oil needed to brown the meats and cook the trinity. You can skip it and just use 2 tablespoons of butter or vegetable oil. If you do skip the bacon, try to use a ham hock instead of the ham bone so you can get that smoky flavor.

About the sausage. There is no exact substitute for good andouille, so make a serious effort to find some. If you can't use a smoked sausage such as kielbasa and add a little more hot sauce.

About the cured ham. You can buy a cured ham steak and chop it up or just use leftover ham from Easter.

Optional seasonings. Some folks like to add cumin an/or chile powder, parsley is common, and cilantro is often used. Worcestershire is occasionally added too.

Do this
1) Click here to read my article, The Zen of Beans, for tips on working with beans and equivalents for dry, canned, and cooked beans. Decide which you will use. If you plan to use dried beans, follow the instructions there for soaking them. Don't discard the soaking liquid. It's got good stuff in it. Set both the beans and the liquid aside.

2) In a 4 quart pot, cook the bacon over medium high heat. Just before it is hard, add the sausage and ham, and brown them. Add the onions, bell pepper, celery, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, salt, and black pepper and stir occasionally until the vegetables are limp, scraping all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add 2 cups of the bean soaking water, the tomatoes, chicken broth, vinegar, hot sauce, bacon, beans, and the ham bone or ham hock. Crank up the heat, bring everything to a boil and back it down to a simmer. Let it simmer, uncovered, until the beans are tender, about 2 to 3 hours. If it gets too thick, add some of the water drained from the beans, or add broth, or just plain water.

3) After about 2-3 hours, when the beans are tender, and most of the liquid has been absorbed, with a ladle or a large spoon, mash about 20% of the beans against the bottom or side of the pot. Remove the bay leaves and ham bone and toss them. Taste and adjust the salt, vinegar, and hot sauce to your preference. Turn to low. If you're going to brighten it with fresh chopped peppers, now's the time to add them.

4) Prepare the rice as described in my article The Zen of Rice.

5) Spoon the rice in the center of a plate, top with the stew, and garnish.

Leftovers

If there is any left over, you can just dump the beans and rice together in the fridge. When it is time to reheat you can refry with a little oil in a pan, and add a little water. I like to brighten the flavors with fresh peppers, tomato, onion, and maybe a splash of lemon juice.

This page was revised 4/27/2009

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