Hey Southern Folks, Help a Poor Yankee...

[fuzzybunny]

...of course I'm not sure if I qualify as a yankee if I'm from Oregon? Do I have to be from New England?

I've got a bunch of canned red beans and rice. I would like to make red beans and rice. I had it once at a resturant of a transplanted family and it was sooo good, however; I checked my fancy, pre-frugal cookbook and it is calling for 19 different ingredents! That can't be right... or at least the way regular people do it.

I'm looking for a more humble version. I figured I would mince up some onion, garlic and maybe celery and throw it in a frying pan with some kind of meat... bacon? The resturant used a spicy kind of sausage, I bet I could find one and slice it thin, we've got a fancy grocery store near by. Anyway it's the spice part I can't quite figure out. It was spicy and a bit warm, which is good in my book. Chili powder? Cumin? Tabasco? Possibly... but that just sounds like chili to me... help!!!

Thanks
Christine

[KatieInLa2]

Alot of people use a cajun or creole seasoning mix.Tony Chachere's is a popular brand. If you can't find it locally there are several recipes posted if you do a search.

www.tonychachere.com

[ladykemma2]

red beans and rice

cook up the beans until they are soft and ready. no salt.

fry up a pound of bacon. use the bacon for something else. keep the grease and the fond.

in the same greasy pan, put the beans. with the juice to simmer. add durkee (franks) red hot to taste. use a stick blender to mash them up a bit.

serve with cooked rice.

edited to add: i forgot, some people add sausage, like kielbasa. cook the heck out of slices of kielbasa til they are brown. add them to the pot.

[baxjul]

My SIL from Mississippi makes it:

Bag of dried red beans, soaked overnight
1 ham hock
1 pkg polish kielbasa
1 pkg. smoked sausage
chopped onion large
1 spoonful of crisco
some butter
a cinnamon stick
bay leaf
hot sauce to taste
pepper, salt
throw in whatever seasonings you want
garlic - about 3 cloves
add water to cover, simmer all day (6-7 hours), serve over white rice.

[ladykemma2]

i tried to do a link to durkee red hot. there is a wikipedia page but i can't link to it.

ixnay on the celery.

you really really really don't want to know how much grease is in red beans and rice, but popeye's chicken down here uses the leftover frying grease in theirs.

[ladykemma2]

here is a recipe from the franks' durkee red hot sauce website

LOUISIANA RED BEANS & RICE
Servings: 6 servings | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes |

Owner/Copyright: 1999 PIL
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound smoked sausage, cut into thin slices (such as kielbasa, chorizo or andouille)
3 cups cut-up vegetables (onion, bell pepper and celery)
2 cloves garlic, minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 cans (15 to 19 ounces each) red kidney beans, undrained
1/4 cup Frank's® RedHot® Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce or Frank's® RedHot® XTRA HOT Cayenne Pepper Sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
Hot cooked rice


DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook sausage in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until browned. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cook and stir 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
2. Stir in beans, Frank's RedHot Sauce and herbs. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes or until flavors are blended; stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves. Serve over hot cooked rice.

[fuzzybunny]

Thanks so much everyone! This is a big help and I can't wait to get started.

Christine

[Mamaof2rugrats]

here is a recipe from the franks' durkee red hot sauce website

LOUISIANA RED BEANS & RICE
Servings: 6 servings | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes |

Owner/Copyright: 1999 PIL
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound smoked sausage, cut into thin slices (such as kielbasa, chorizo or andouille)
3 cups cut-up vegetables (onion, bell pepper and celery)
2 cloves garlic, minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 cans (15 to 19 ounces each) red kidney beans, undrained
1/4 cup Frank's® RedHot® Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce or Frank's® RedHot® XTRA HOT Cayenne Pepper Sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
Hot cooked rice


DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook sausage in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until browned. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cook and stir 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
2. Stir in beans, Frank's RedHot Sauce and herbs. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes or until flavors are blended; stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves. Serve over hot cooked rice.

That's a good recipe. That's how I make mine. We eat it probably once a week at least.

[MarshHen]

Here's my version, and before ya'll at the amount of lard, it's a Southern thang and in some cases, it's just necessary cause the taste is what counts. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, LOL.

3 16 oz. cans red beans - 2 cans with liquid, 1 can drained
1/2 to 3/4 lbs. smoked ham hock
1-1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon lard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 - 5 cups long grain rice, cooked

Add the 2 cans of beans with their liquid into a 2 qt. saucepan. Add smoked ham hocks and water. Simmer over medium heat for about 1 hour or until the meat starts to loosen from the bone.

Remove from heat and cool until the hocks are cool enough to handle so the meat can be removed from the bone.

Place the meat, beans and liquid into a food processor. To the mixture add the onion powder, garlic salt, red pepper, salt, black pepper and lard. Process for only four seconds. Beans should be chopped and liquid thick. Add the third can of beans that have been drained of their liquid and process for a second or two. You want these beans to remain almost whole.

Pour mixture back into saucepan and cook slowly on low heat stirring often until ready to serve.

Serve over rice. I add my rice to my beans in the pan and mix it all together. We just like it this way. We also top with onions and chopped chili's. Great with cornbread.

[FrugalMomof3]

For me, I just add in some adobo seasoning (no not southern) and some spanish sofrito (which is a mix of green peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro) and cook them up on the stove, you can add in some bacon pieces or leftover pork chops cut into small cubes or pieces, let them simmer for a bit and YUMMY!


Of course you would cook the rice separate and then once everything is done plate the rice and pour the beans on top. DELICIOUS!