29 May, 2013

Red Rice & Beans – Kev-O Style!

Now these are the key to Kevin’s Beer Brats w/Red Rice & Beans – together, absolutely phenomenal!

Link to the Beer Brats

Ingredients:

• 1 pound red kidney beans, dry
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 5 ribs celery, chopped
• LOTS of garlic, maybe 7 or 8 cloves, minced
• 1 large smoked ham WITH bone (should say ready to eat on the outside)
• 1 package of hot italian sausages
• 1 tsp of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• Crystal hot sauce (to taste)
• A few dashes of worcestershire sauce
• whold bunch of creole seasoning blend (I use Tony’s. It’s a green container with a cartoon guy on it)
• white rice

START THE PROCESS 4 DAYS PRIOR TO SERVING

Put the beans in a saucepan.  Add water until completely covered and let soak overnight.

The next day:

Slice as much of the ham as possible til you get down to the hock. You’ll use a lot of the meat in the dish, but you’ll also have a lot leftover, depending on the size of ham you bought. Since it’s smoked, it’s good to eat right out of the package so you guys can use it for sandwiches, ham and eggs, etc.

Put the hock in a big pot, add water until well covered and heat to a boil for about 2 hours. Once done, strain out the contents but KEEP THE WATER!!!!! I usually use a spaghetti strainer and pour it from one big pot to another. Set water to the side.

drain and put fresh water in the pot with the beans. Bring the beans to rolling boil. Make sure the beans are always covered by water. Boil the beans for about 45-60 minutes until tender but not falling apapt. Drain.

While the beans are boiling, saute the onions, celery and bell pepper  until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Take the italian sausages and lightly fry them in saucepan with olive oil on med/med-high heat. Just a couple minutes; they shouldn’t even be cooked, just get a nice crisp on the outside. Remove from heat and slice.

Now put the beans, onions, celery, bell pepper, sausages, a good bit of the sliced ham and all the remaining seasonings into a big pot and add the boiled “ham water” until everything is completely covered. Heat to a boil and reduce to low and simmer for several hours, stirring occasionally to prevent from burning on the bottom. Start taste-testing about 2 hours in.

It will be soupy for a while but will start to thicken up. As it starts to get thick remove from heat and let cool. After about 2 hours cover and refrigerate at least one day preferably two. On the day you’re going to serve it, put it back on the stove and heat up until it’s nice and thick (depending on how thick you got it before refrigeration, this may take a couple hours) Once thickened, serve over white rice with a little hot sauce dashed on top. The trader joe’s frozen rice is the sheeyat and it can be cooked really fast!!!

Let me know if you have any questions; this one took me a few tries to perfect, so I understand if it seems a little overwhelming 🙂 It’s actually pretty simple, but like I said, just very time consuming. Enjoy!!!