one single red bean & one single rice
“Flavor, in both food and culture, comes from allowing different ingredients to incorporate together over time.”
I vividly remember as a young Butterfly going on yearly trips to Louisiana to see my family. I have aunts in New Orleans and swamp-folk cousins from Slidell (who have about 12 kids - you know how swamp people are). My parents, brother and I would visit each year, often times during Mardi Gras to see the parades and soak up the food, music, and culture, but it always felt very much like home away from home.
Of all the cities I’ve been to, New Orleans is my favorite. From Jazz concerts at Preservation Hall to strutting the French Quarter trying various foods and drinks and taking in all the street performers and artists, it’s quite unlike any other city. The distinctly Creole atmosphere bleeds into all surroundings and creates this beautiful stew of music, food, art, and architecture.
Much like the city’s various famous facets combining into a megamix of wholly unique culture, the food itself is a slow-cooked amalgamation of French, Creole, Cajun, and good ole Southern Soul Food - crawfish and shrimp, smoked andouille sausage, the holy trinity and the pope, beignets and chicory coffee. That’s why when I make Red Beans n Rice, I take allllll day to make it; approximately 8-9 hours from prep-time to the final product being served. Flavor, in both food and culture, comes from allowing different ingredients to incorporate together over time.
When I went to Mardi Gras as a youngen, we always had a spot that we posted up on St. Charles, on the route of the larger parades such as Endymion, Bacchus, and Orpheus, as well as smaller, opener parades. It was a relatively family friendly spot, since we were just kids at the time, but that didn’t take away from the gorgeous chaos and absurdity of it all. But what I cherish most fondly from that spot was the food truck across the street that served po-boys, hot dogs and sausages, gumbo, and of course, my favorite - Red Beans n Rice in small styrofoam cups. I probably went through 10 of those cups over the course of each of our visits.
It has been quite a few years since I’ve gone to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, so I’m not sure if the food truck is still there. But now that I’m older and regularly cook for my family, I take my Red Beans n Rice very seriously. I try my best to recreate that styrofoam cup flavor, although I don’t think I’ll ever quite reach that level of pure enjoyment I had on St. Charles.
As you likely know, the most important part of all Creole and Cajun cooking is “the Holy Trinity” - onion, bell pepper, and celery. Add to that “the Pope” - garlic, green onion, and parsley - and you have the beginnings of Red Beans n Rice. Of course that’s not all you need - bay leaves, dried herbs, smoked ham hocks, cayenne pepper, and the other most important parts - red beans and smoked andouille sausage. As always, it is important to listen to good funk and soul music while cooking - it will make the food taste better, I promise.
Da Recipe
I’d like to share my own Red Beans n Rice recipe with y’all today. It is by no means the be-all-end-all of red beans and rice, however I did do my research and tried my best to put together the best possible Red Beans n Rice recipe that I could. I am still relatively new to the fine art of Creole, Cajun and Soul Food cooking, but this is the closest I’ve been able to get to that styrofoam cup flavor so far. This recipe makes about 8-10 servings.
Important notes: be sure to start soaking the red beans 24 hours in advance of the day you start making this dish. If you are making this for Mardi Gras lunch, you can make it the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight - it will likely taste better to let the flavors sit and incorporate anyway.
What you’ll need:
1 pound of red beans (soaked in water for 24 hours)
2 bell peppers (either red or green), diced
1 small bunch of celery, diced
1 large yellow onion, diced
6-8 bulbs of garlic, minced
1 bunch of green onion, chopped
1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped
1-2 tablespoons of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 link of andouille or smoked pork sausage
1 smoked ham hock
Mix of bacon fat, butter, and olive oil (about 1/2 cup of fats total)
A few splashes of crystal hot sauce
Spice mix:
1-2 teaspoons salt
1-2 teaspoons black pepper
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 pinch of dried thyme
1 pinch of crushed red pepper
1 pinch of paprika
1 pinch of garlic powder
Instructions:
Start by putting on my GUMBO playlist of funk, R&B, jazz, and Soul music. Make sure to take moments to sing and dance.
Chop up the holy trinity and the pope (onion, bell pepper, celery, parsley, garlic, green onion). Set aside some of the parsley and green onion as a topping at the end.
In a large stockpot, add the mix of bacon fat, butter, and olive oil and heat on medium.
Cook the trinity and pope on medium-low for 10-15 minutes stirring frequently, allowing them to sweat until translucent.
Throw in the andouille and smoked ham hock, cook for 7 minutes.
Add the red beans and cover with enough water to submerge them (about 1/2 inch of headspace). Stir, then add fresh thyme and bay leaves on top.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.
Cover, and simmer for about 6-7 hours, until thick, the beans are tender, and the color is reddish orange (see the last photo above for reference). Stir occasionally.
Uncover, add spice mix and cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.
Taste and add more spices and/or hot sauce to your liking.
Discard ham hock and bay leaves, then serve over steamed white rice with leftover parsley and green onions on top.
Thank y’all for joining me in learning how to cook New Orleans staple dishes and Soul Food classics! Here are some other great Southern Recipes to check out:
𝕊𝕀𝕃𝕂 ℝ𝕆𝔸𝔻 𝔾𝕆𝕌ℝ𝕄𝔼𝕋
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