Here’s my family’s red beans and rice recipe:

  • 1 lb dry red beans, sorted, rinsed and soaked
  • 1 lb seasoning meat, chopped into bite-sized pieces (ham or smoked sausage)
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/4 C. green bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, chopped
  • 1-3 toes of garlic, minced
  • 1 bunch fresh parsley, washed and snipped
  • 1/4 t. cayenne red pepper, or to taste
  • 1 T. Tony Chachere’s Original (creole) Seasoning
  • 1 large Bay Leaf
  • 2 coursly chopped jalapeno peppers without the seeds, if desired
  • salt, additional to taste (Tony’s has salt in the seasoning)
  • 1 bunch green onions, washed and chopped
  • Louisiana Red Hot Sauce to taste
  • Rice, at least 2 cups dry (makes 4 cups cooked)

Render chopped sausage in 5-7 quart dutch oven, or brown chopped ham in 2 T. vegetable oil. Sausage makes sufficient grease to saute the vegetables.

I use a Le Creuset 7.25-qt. Round Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
or a Calphalon 6-qt. Everyday Nonstick Dutch Oven The Le Creuset dutch oven comes in a variety of colors. The Calphalon dutch oven is black anodized aluminum and much lighter weight than cast iron.

Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, celery, and parsley and saute until tender.

Add the soaked beans and 8 cups water or stock. Add all seasonings except the green onions.

Bring to a boil and remove the bay leaf, reduce heat, cover, and simmer on low heat at least 4-6 hours. Stir occasionally and add water to keep the beans covered.

Test to see if beans are completely cooked by taking a few from different areas of the pot, allowing them to cool, and smashing them between your thumb and forefinger. If they smash easily and completely and nothing is left intact but the skin, they’re done.

Prepare rice according to package instructions or in rice-cooker.

Serve beans over rice with chopped green onion as a garnish. Have Louisiana Red Hot Sauce on the table for those who like to spice them up. Tabasco Sauce is also a good choice if you like things really hot. Serve with cornbread and a fresh pot of Community Coffee (I prefer freshly ground whole-bean gourmet Columbian).

Vegetarians: I’ve made this exact recipe without the meat before and it’s excellent. I used 2 T vegetable oil to saute the vegetables before adding the beans and water.

Recipe from Sherri Joubert