Just for Jennifer

Jennifer, aka the Binky B—-, posted on one of her blogs about making red beans and rice. I admit to being a bit obsessed with beans and rice. Here’s my recipe just for her, but the rest of you can make it if you want to..

The Mom’s Red Beans and Rice

1 lb dried red beans
1 hamhock
3 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 chopped onion
1 green pepper chopped
1 cup chopped scallions
2 bay leaves

Put it in a pot with enough water to cover it by a couple of inches. Simmer for 2 hours. (I don’t soak the beans over night or any of that nonsense. I have 5 children…do you really expect me to think that far ahead?)

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp basil
1 tbsp creole seasoning (I like to double this, but I like FLAVOR in my cajun food)
Tabasco to taste
crushed red pepper to taste

Add to pot and give it a good stir. Put the lid on, add water if you need to and simmer.

An hour or so later, smash 1/4 to 1/3 of the beans against the side of the pot. the more you smash the thicker it gets. If they don’t smash easily, wait 15 minutes and try again. I like it THICK, so I smash almost half of them.

Add 1 lb Andouille sausage, sliced
juice of 1 good sized lime

simmer for another 30 minutes then serve over your favorite rice or just eat it out of the pot. YUM!

It takes about 4 hours total, but they are mostly unsupervised hours. The prep time depends on how quickly you chop. It takes me about 20 minutes to get it all cut up.

The lime adds a lovely brightness to the sauce. The vegetables should cook away to practically nothing, so your kids won’t be picking stuff out. It tastes even better after spending a night in the fridge. It’s a pretty cheap meal..about $5 a pot, and feeds my whole family without a lot of leftovers, or just me for a very happy week.