When I posted my chili “recipe” a while back, I mentioned that pinto beans ONLY were the right beans to use in it and alluded to the relative difficulty of cooking red beans as opposed to pinto beans. Well, this recipe specifically calls for red beans and, really, no other will do. After all, how can ya call it “Red Beans and Rice” if you use a different bean, eh?
Red Beans and Rice
Beans
Wash and sort one pound of red beans. Soak ’em OVERNIGHT (at
least) in a quart or more of water. Next day, discard the water,
re-rinse and cover with about 1.5 quarts water, bring to a boil,
back it off to simmer and let simmer for three to four hours. The
beans are done when
1.) you can “blow” the skin off a couple of them by
gently, well, blowing on them (get a few in a spoon to do this,
though. Who wants your breath on their beans, now, really?)
2.) the water is reduced to a moderately thick sauce.
For a tastier buncha beans, add to the bloiling beans (before you
start to simmer them)
1 or 2 hamhocks OR some sliced smoked sausage a cup or more chopped yellow onion
some chopped green onions (maybe 1/4-1/2 as much as the yellow onion)
one clove garlic, minced (better: use a garlic press for this one)
chopped green, red or jalapeno or other peppers, depending on your taste
freshly-ground black pepper
Add salt AFTER the beans are done–the hamhock(s), if used, may add enough salt on their own.
Rice
2 cups brown rice
4 cups water (you may need more. My “waterless” cookware pots have spoiled me)
Bring the water to boil. Sprinkle the rice into the boiling water
slowly enough to keep the boil going. Cover and reduce to simmer.
My pots/altitude, etc., results in a fluffy rice in about 20
minutes. YMMV.
“A plate of rice, a scoop of beans and thou, singing in the wilderness.”
Or something like that.
