Red beans and rice for Mardi Gras

It’s time to start celebrating Mardi Gras, so here is my red beans and rice recipe!Just in time for Mardi Gras season – red beans and rice!

Monday in the South was laundry day, the perfect day to put red beans and rice on the stove. This dish is a favorite here at Casa Bouquet during Mardi Gras season, which begins January 6, the Twelfth Day of Christmas.

You will need a large pot (or slow cooker), a knife, spatula or spoon, and measuring spoons and cup. (My pot is 8 quarts.)

The night before cooking, rinse the beans and discard any stones or bad beans. Soak overnight. Drain when you are ready to cook. Camellia Brand beans are the absolute best for this (we used to ask The Gardener’s sister to ship them to us from Mississippi!).

Chop the bell peppers into half-inch squares. Chop the banana peppers into ¼ inch chunks. Mince the garlic. Louisiana has its own version of mirepoix called Holy Trinity. It is a chopped mixture of onion, celery, and bell pepper. If you decide to go this route, I suggest taking it easy with the onion and perhaps only use 6 slices of onion so as to not make the taste too prevalent.

Slice the sausage into ¼ inch slices. I like to use Andouille, but the recipe tastes fine with chicken or turkey sausage. Smoked is best. [Note: the sausage can be left out if you need a vegetarian version!]

Heat the pan to medium high (I put a small pat of butter or a half teaspoon of water in the pan to tell when it’s hot.) Add the olive oil and immediately add the bell peppers. Sauté until they lose their crispness. Add the sausage and sauté, flipping occasionally, until cooked, about 5 minutes.

Add drained beans, Cajun/Creole spice (I use Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning), thyme, bay leaves, minced garlic, onion flakes, and enough water to cover the beans plus about an inch. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add water if the pot contents become too thick.

Remove about ½ or ¾ cup of beans and smash with a fork, immersion blender, or potato masher.

Add back to the pot. Add the Pickapeppa sauce (or other tamarind-based sauce such as Worcestershire). Add hot sauce, such as Cajun Sunshine or Tabasco. In any bean recipe, I always add an acid near the end of the cooking time.

Cook for 1 or 2 more hours. The consistency should be like a very thick soup.

Remove the bay leaves. Serve over fresh hot rice. You will need 6 to 8 cups of cooked rice for this recipe of beans.

Note: this recipe will also work with 5 15-ounce cans of small red beans, drained and rinsed. Add enough water to come up about halfway through the ingredients. Cooking time will be about an hour.

For the slow cooker: cook the beans in water to cover plus one inch for 8 hours on low. Remove ½ cup of beans, smash, and return to pot. Add sautéed vegetables and sautéed sausage, Cajun spice, thyme, bay leaves, garlic, onion flakes, Pickapeppa sauce, and hot sauce. Add additional water if needed. Cook for 2 more hours.