snowrooster

I usually use half water, half stock - I buy the low sodium stuff. Regarding the beans, I tend to just use dry kidney beans as that's all the grocery sells here in Ohio (I grew up in NO). However sometimes I order (or stock up when I visit) Camellia Red Beans, as they are what I've always thought are most authentic. You can order a lot of great New Orleans food stuff at www.louisianacupboard.com. I concur that tobasco is the best hot sauce ever.

neworleanslady

rjw - You've got me curious now... where is your dad from? Do you still have family in Thibodaux? I lived there for 10 years. It's one of my favorite cities.
Also, I think my boyfriend sent me that article on beans! I can't remember where it came from, but that sounds like it. It's hard to be a bean hater around here - red beans & rice is the special in most restaurants on Mondays and white beans & catfish on Fridays!

rjw_lgb_ca

My folks are from near Houma. We don't have family in Thibodaux any more. My sister went to college there for a couple of years, however.

neworleanslady

I know the area very well. I'm going fishing south of Houma - out of Cocodrie - tomorrow night.

OO

This recipe comes from my old favorite cookbook, The New Orleans Cookbook by Rima and Richard Collin. They've also got my favorite recipe for boiled shrimp, Yum.

As per their cookbook, "this is the way red beans and rice were cooked in the old days--loaded with meat and steeped in a rich, natural gravy. You must include a large ham bone whose marrow gives the beans that creamy texture and distinctive smoky flavor. Ham bones freeze well, and a good supply in the freezer will enable you to prepare red beans the right way whenever you wish. If you have any left over, red beans freeze beautifully. Just add a little water and perhaps a pinch of salt when ready to reheat.

Be sure to use baked rather than country or smoked ham in this and all other New Orleans beans dishes. Smoked ham is too salty and will unbalance the seasonings. Pickled pork is pork shoulder marinated in brine for over a week; NO markets regularly carry it but elsewhere you probably will not find it. A good substitute for pickled pork is salt pork; with salt pork eliminte all other salt in the recipe.

-2 lb dried red (kidney) beans, soaked overnight in cold water to cover.
-2C chopped onion
1/2C thinly sliced green shallot tops
-1/2C chpd green pepper
-1 1/2 T finely minced garlic
-2 T finely minced parsley
-1 lb seasoning (baked) ham, cut into 1" cubes
-1 lb pickled pork cut into large chunks
-1 large ham bone with some meat on it, sawed into 4-5" lengths
-1T salt
-1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
-1/4 tsp cayenne
-1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
-2 whole bay leaves broken into quarters
-1/2 tsp dried thyme
-1/8 tsp dried basil
-2 qt. cold water, approximately
Boiled Rice

Drain the soaked beans in a colander and put them, along with all the other ingredients, into a heavy 8-10 qt pot, adding just enough of the cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer on low heat for 2 1/3 to 3 hours, or until the beans are tender and a thick natural gravy has formed. Add about 1C of water toward the end of cooking if the mixture appears too dry. During cooking, stir frequently and scrape down the sides and across the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon or spatula to prevent scorching. (If you use a heavy pot and very low heat--just high enough to keep the barest simmer going--you should have no problem with beans sticking to the pot during cooking.) Stir the entire mixture thoroughly just once about every half hour.

Rice:
1C long grain white rice
2C cold water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp salt butter
Combine all the ingredients in a havy 3 qt saucepan with a tight fitting cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir once with a fork then cover tightly and reduce the heat to very low. Cook covered for exactly 15 minutes. Do not lift the cover during cooking. Remove the pan from the heat, uncover and fluff the rice gently with a fork.

Ladle about 1.5 C of beans, with meat and gravy, over a portion (about 2/3C) of boiled rice.

My DH and I enjoy the more entailed NO recipe cooking over the weekend when we work together, slicing, dicing, roux stirring or whatever. We almost always take what we like from several recipes, combine them to arrive at our finished product...which is rarely the same from one time to the next...with one exception, "our" boiled shrimp recipe.

Yum!

neworleanslady

OO - that is why RB&R is usually the special on Mondays. "Tradition" was to cook the ham on Sunday and use the bone on Monday in the beans!

dsm22

My mom is from New Orleans. Here in PA we now use a couple of freshly smoked ham hocks that we get at a local store. Everything is made on site at the store. It is good stuff and not too salty. I have also used a ham bone that we have gotten from there.

That is the only difference in my recipe from neworleanslady's.

Tallulah

Thank you all again!

Can I just ask though, what are Rotel tomatoes? I'm guessing from Wayne's post that they're quite spicy. We can buy tinned tomatoes with added herbs/chillies etc, would the equivalent be the one with chillies? Or should I just add extra tabasco? I love spicy food so would probably do that anyway.

BelleReve

A few notes from a native on cooking red beans:

red beans are kidney beans (we locals use Camellia brand dry-kidneys, most bags, at least Camellia, print the recipe on the side)

water can be used, beef broth is not necessary

it is not necessary to soak the beans overnight, before cooking them

tomatoes are usually not cooked in the beans

We have something called pickle meat that's used to season the beans, also a lot of people will add either slices 1" or thicker of smoked or hot link style sausage

along with garlic, celery, onion, I would also add a bay leaf

In just about every household in New Orleans, red beans were a Monday, wash staple, and nothing fancy, they still aren't. Most housewives would use the leftover ham bone from Sunday dinner, and put a pot of dried beans in a pot to simmer while they did the laundry. It didn't need a lot of attention, and they could do their chores while the beans cooked.

I would suggest that if you want a cookbook of very basic, New Orleans style dishes, the two I would recommend are:

La Bouche Creole I - Leon Soniat
the New Orleans Cookbook - Richard and Rima Colins

Hope this info helps

emd

Zatarain's! I know homemade is always so much better, but when you can't do that I like their mixes. Next time you come to the U.S. take some home. The dirty rice and gumbo ones are very good for a boxed mix.

rjw_lgb_ca

BelleReve's explanation of the RB&R on Monday tradition is the one I heard from Mom-- "I set the beans cookin' and did the damn laundry!" Mom loves housework. But we had RB&R any ol' time, cuz Dad did the laundry.

The OP can now ascertain that Cajun and Creole cooking defies hard and fast rules. BTW, "Rotel" tomatoes (or is it Ro-tel?) are a specific brand of spicy canned tomatoes sold in the US. Personally, if you're going to add tomatoes of any kind to RB&R (and it's a controversial point!), I recommend simply adding ripe, flavorful tomatoes and kicking up the spices a bit (since these will give up a lot of water and dilute the whole mess).

BelleReve

gojacks - the secret is to count your beans, and only eat 239 of them.

rjw_lgb_ca

BelleRève, chère, don' be passin' dem Cajun secrets to no dam' Nawthuner dere, OK? B'sides, de secret 'roun' chez mes parents was to keep a big dog near de table where we were eatin'. Don' no one say nothin' when dere's an old dog sleepin' at y'all's feet, huh?