The Impatient Chef Recipe: Southern Red Beans and Rice

Red Beans and Rice is a staple of the south, especially around Louisiana.  I decided to try my hand at it.  The cooking went nothing like the recipe used said it would, so I improvised.  What I got was the recipe I am sharing here.  It was the best I have ever had.

Ingredients:

For red beans:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, or better yet, bacon grease.  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium red bell peppers, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, pressed, or thoroughly crushed in a mortar and pestle
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound smoked ham hock, bone in
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce, or approved equivalent.  
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 quarts water
• 1 pound red beans (not kidney), rinsed and picked of debris.  

For rice:

• 6 cups spring or filtered water 
• Fine sea salt 
• 7 ounces (1 cup) Anson Mills Carolina Gold Rice 
• 2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

Directions:

For beans:

Soak the beans in water with a teaspoon of salt stirred in overnight in a crock pot.  Use enough water to more than cover the beans.  In the morning, drain the beans, and add a fresh 2 quarts of water to the beans, and turn it onto high.  I have an older crock pot, so I have Off, Low, and High for settings.  I prefer this kind of crock pot over newer ones with programs and Wifi.  When the beans are starting to simmer lightly, turn it to low.   

1. About 2 hours before you want to eat, dice the peppers, onion, carrot, and celery.  You probably don’t have a mortar and pestle like the one pictured, but you should.  Put the garlic in the mortar, and smash it up good.  add the thyme, and kosher salt.  I start this with a coarse kosher salt because it adds a little grinding action.  We want to release the oils in the thyme leaves.  
2. In a 7-quart Dutch oven set over medium-high heat, add the oil (or bacon grease), and let it get hot.  Don’t use extra virgin for this, because the smoke temperature is too low.  Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, carrot and pepper.. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions and celery are semi-translucent and the bell peppers and carrots are tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme mixture, and cook for 1 to 2 more minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the ham hock, bay leaves, thyme, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, water and pour the beans from the crock pot into the dutch oven, and increase the heat to high.  Eat a bean to test its firmness.  If they are soft, and not at all gritty, skip the lid-on part of the final cooking.  If they are not soft, continue with the next step.  
3. Cook, stirring frequently until the mixture comes to a boil, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook for at least 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Keep an eye on how tender the beans are.  When they are just about as tender as you want them, move to the uncovered cooking.  
4. After the covered cooking is done, uncover the pot, remove the ham hock.  Let it cool on a plate.  
5. Increase the heat slightly to maintain a steady simmer and continue to cook, stirring often, for another 30 to 40 minutes.
6. When the ham hock is cooled, remove it from the bone, remove the fat, and tear it up with a couple of forks.  Return it to the pot.  
7. When the beans are tender and the sauce is thickened to your liking, they are done.  If they aren’t thickening, cook a little longer.  You don’t want to turn the beans to mush, though.  You may not get this right on the first try.  You can adjust your cooking times on future attempts.  It’s worth it. 

For Rice:

Follow the Anson Mills recipe for Carolina Gold rice as follows:  

For this recipe, you will need a rimmed baking sheet, parchment paper, a heavy-bottomed 3½-quart saucepan, a wooden spoon, a fine-holed footed colander, and a spatula.

Directions:  

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a heavy-bottomed 3½-quart saucepan, bring the water and 1 tablespoon of salt to a boil over high heat. Add the rice, stir once, and as soon as the water returns to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the rice is just tender with no hard starch at its center, about 15 minutes. Drain the rice in a fine-holed footed colander and rinse well with cool water. Shake the colander to drain off excess water.
3. Distribute the rice evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven and allow the rice to dry for about 5 minutes, gently turning the grains from time to time with a spatula. Dot with the butter and sprinkle with the pepper and salt to taste. Return the baking sheet to the oven and allow the rice to warm through, occasionally turning the grains, until the butter has melted and the rice is hot, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and serve immediately.

Why Use Anson Mills Rice?

If you’re asking this question, you haven’t tried it.  You can use rice from you local supermarket, or natural food store, and this dish will be good.  Just remember to add some butter, salt and pepper to the rice in the quantities listed above.  However, the Anson Mills ice kicks the deliciousness up a notch.  Give it a try.