Monday Night Dinner – Red Beans and Rice

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Red beans and rice is a Monday night staple in the big easy, and I'm feeling just a little bit homesick.

Here's what you need to whip up a batch of the most delicious Monday night diner: 1 lbs dried red kidney beans (2 cans of beans if you must (and that's totally cool)) 2 stalks celery chopped 1 medium onion diced a red bell pepper diced a hefty chunk of andouille (or spicy chorizo or any spicy, coarse grind smoked pork sausage) cajun seasoning (more on that in a bit) Worcestershire sauce crystal hot sauce (not kidding, the best hot sauce evah(and official hot sauce of the NOLA Saints, Will, you'd better stock up)) chicken stock long grain rice If using dry bean, soak them overnight, drain, rinse the beans. Cut the sausage into 1/4 inch rounds, and brown on both sided in a heavy bottomed pan (cast iron is preferred, but not necessary). Add the onion, pepper, celery, and a dash or so of cajun seasoning to the pan. Cook this mixture until the onion and peppers start to stick to the bottom. Add a bit of stock or water to release the browned bits. This technique, called au sec, is used to add deep flavor to the veggies by releasing the fond from the bottom of the pan into the veg. When the pan runs dry again add a bit more stock. When the pan runs dry again add the beans and enough stock to cover with about an inch of liquid, the bay leaf, two shots (or more...) of Worcestershire sauce, several dashes of crystal hot sauce, and bit more of your cajun seasoning. Bring this mess to a boil and then reduce to a simmer adding stock or water if the pan runs dry before the beans are done. In the meantime cook up a pot of rice. Dinner is served when the beans are tender, and coated in a gravy consistency sauce. The consistency of the sauce is up to you. Serve with a fried chicken leg to round out the meal if you're feeling sassy. Cajun spice mix can be as simple as tony c's, the store brand (Northern Irish style!), or as complicated as making your own. Donnie's spice mix is my go to. It's an awesome blend that goes good on roast chicken and potatoes as well as shrimp and grits. If you use the store brand or tony c's you'll want to use less as it's mostly salt. The home made is superior in the regard that it's not mostly salt, and you can jack up the spice if you choose.

21 thoughts on “Monday Night Dinner – Red Beans and Rice”

    1. naw, just means I didn't notice it. put in a 14 hour day, finishing at 2 am this morning. I'll be looking forward to more of these.

      1. Yeah, sorry, I missed it too until I saw comments in the side bar.

        I need to have my parents bring down my good cast iron skillet and big chili pot when they visit next month. This looks delicious. I really need to get to NOLA once you're back.

          1. I add another row to the front page so content gets more visibility and people still just check the sidebar.

                1. But that'd be too easy!

                  Seriously though, I don't primarily use the sidebar, and especially not on my phone.

                    1. For me, the comments section is all the way down at the bottom. Have to scroll past every post to get there.

    2. Have only had Zatarain's whilst camping in the BWCAW. I'd like to try this out.

      Yeah the Irish whisky kinda threw me for a minute. Didn't see it in the recipe, then went, Ah.

      Also meat, I ike the James Joycery in the delivery (am at 429 in Ulysses, God help me and Ireland).

      Did the Bushnell's tour a few years back. A sin to mix, only serve alongside a glass of pure Irish water.

  1. Also, just noticed the bottle of Irish...picked up the same (though labeled '1996' - apparently just an older bottle of their standard '14-year') just a month-or-so ago. Tasty that.

    1. Connemara peated irish and the tyrconnell are my go to irish. I'm not a fan of bushmills (too much wheat) or Jameson (too sweet), but the other two are quite nice.

  2. I missed it too, sorry about that. Red beans and rice is one of my favorite things ever, so I'll definitely have to look to making this and have bookmarked this page accordingly.

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