Wednesday, December 4, 2013

New Orleans red beans and rice

  • Pin It

My friend Ellen call this her dad's "ancestral" recipe. Ellen's father, who passed away suddenly a few years ago, grew up in the tight-knit Jewish community in New Orleans. Ellen remembers making this with him a few times when she was little. 

Long, slow cooking transforms these simple ingredients into a comforting bowl of winter goodness. Don't skimp on the Tabasco unless you absolutely have to - it makes the dish.




print recipe

New Orleans red beans and rice
Long, slow cooking transforms a few simple ingredients into a steaming bowl of comfort food. Serve these southern-style red beans over plain white rice if you want to be perfectly authentic.
Ingredients
  • 1 pound dried red kidney beans
  • 3 quarts water
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 rib celery, sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 pound ham hock, beef stew meat, or beef brisket
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or ground New Mexico chiles
  • 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
  • 3 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon salt (start with 1/2 teaspoon and add gradually until the beans are seasoned to your taste)
  • 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
Instructions
To a large pot add the beans, water, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves, meat, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, Tabasco, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer uncovered 3 to 4 hours, until the beans are soft.Add salt and butter. (Do not add the salt earlier as it will toughen the beans.)Serve hot over plain white rice. Note: The beans should have a soupy consistency; if they start to seem dry, add more water.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 8-10 servings




4 comments:

Cathy @ She Paused 4 Thought said...

I love the flavors of New Orleans and would love to try this. Do you think this recipe would work in a crock pot?

Erika Kerekes said...

@Cathy I don't see why not. Maybe add slightly less water, since in the original recipe it is simmered uncovered.

Ellen Harris-Braun said...

I think the original recipe says "Serve hot over plain white rice, getting sighs of ecstasy from the group" :)

Ellen

Erika Kerekes said...

@Ellen and I'm sure they did. :)

Post a Comment