Red Beans & Rice Ayeee

Ayeeeee Peeps

As you know by now that we tailgated this past weekend at the Baylor ULM game.  Since the Hubster is a full blown Louisiana boy through and through so we had all kinds of yummy Cajun food and drink!

But I'm the Red Beans maker around here so I'm gonna share this recipe with you and tell you that if you want to make this, start a day ahead at least.  Slow and Low are the key words to remember.

Now if you want to make them in one day in the crock pot then I shall direct you right here to my crock pot version.  

If you got the time then I highly recommend this recipe for Red Beans & Rice.  It's really worth the time and effort.  I pinky swear promise!

The ingredient list is pretty long so the printable is printable is right here so you can follow along.

First things first, 1 lb. or red beans should be rinsed and soaked overnight.  If you forgot, ahem like me, then you can always do the quick soak method.  Cover beans with water + 2 inches over.  Bring to a boil, let boil about 3 minutes then turn off and let them soak for 1 hour.   I've had great success with t his method.  I recommend it if you are like me and can never remember to soak them ahead of time.

Now while those beans are soaking you can get started on the rest.  

In a large pot , heat the bacon grease, oh come on you know you have some and if you don't you should, on medium high heat.  Add ham and cook for about a minute.  Add onions, celery and bell pepper to the ham and season with the salt, pepper and cayenne and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the bay leaves, parsley, thyme, sausage and ham hock. Cook until sausage and ham hocks are browned, another 5 minutes.   Add the garlic, Tony Cachere's and Tabasco and cook about 1 minute.  

Now it is time to add the beans and broth/water, stir well and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low and let simmer a minimum of 2 hours.  Really really listen when I tell you that the longer the better.  SLOW AND LOW.  

If they are looking dry and thick you can add more water/broth as needed.

When you just can't stand it anymore remove from heat and use the back of a spoon or an immersion blender and mash about 1/4 of the beans.  Continue to cook until beans are tender and creamy.

I've found that when you cook them all day then you don't even have to do this step.

Remove from heat and remove the bay leaves (very important).

Serve over rice and yell ayeee!!

yeah, you can just taste that goodness can't you?

Hubster had to get in on the photo session and made the alligator bite the lid on the Tabasco.

By the way, the bowl above represents the leftovers from the tailgate. 

I'd say they went over well, or everyone had too much Cajun Kool Aid and didn't care.

I'm not kidding when I tell you, it is worth a day of watching the pot to make these.

It's as close to Cajun as it gets!

One last time here is the printable and in celebration of National One Hit Wonder Day I now present:

Peace, Love & Vanilla Ice