No, he's just chopping onions for his semi-annual batch of Cajun Red Beans and Rice. It's snowing outside. Snowing like crazy! Yesterday, the weather report predicted a total 3-5 inches of snow for our little Hudson River town, but there was at least that on the ground when we woke up this morning. Now, there are 8 inches on the ground and it's still falling fast. We've been living in NY for the past 10 years, but a big snowfall still seems a novelty to us, having grown up for the most part in southern regions. So, after the prerequisite shoveling the walkways and sledding at the local slope, he came in and wanted something warm and comforting for dinner tonight.
I'd been dreaming of my Mom's beef stew-thick with lots of chunky carrots, potatoes and onions. But as we ran through our options-beef stew, pot roast, roast chicken, jambalaya- it looked as though my Hunky was in the cooking mood, so I'm happy that he's Kitchen Wizard today. Now you must know, when Hunky starts cooking, he does so in a big way. Just a moment ago, he walked in with two 1 pound bags of dried red beans and asked "Are two bags enough? Too much?" Me, "One bag will be plenty for the three of us, surely!" Hunky, "Well, we'll want to have some for the next week. I figure 8 servings per bag, someone might come over and want some. Sixteen servings will be our safety net." As if we were amidst some famine with hungry people roaming by waiting to beg some red beans and rice. Thankfully, our largest pot will only accommodate one pound of fully cooked beans.
So, now the house is filled with the warm and biting aroma of onions, garlic, peppers and celery, sweating in some olive oil. Add to that the nearly biting smell of the blackening spice slowly seeping it's way into the vegetables and the gradually expanding small red beans. The Andouille sausage is thawing in the sink with the remainder of last summer's garden tomatoes. I'm not sure how many packages of Andouille are left in our chest freezer. We always buy quite a few when we can find a good brand as it's more exotic to the population of NY than Chinese chicken feet. As another adaptation to our northern location, in place of Tasso ham, Hunky's had to make do with a small Cook's ham steak-ordinary, but OK.
So here goes---
Hunky's Red Beans and Rice
serves 8?
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 large cloves garlic, minced
3 ribs celery, diced
2 small onions, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 tablespoons Cajun spice blend
2 bay leaves
1 pound dry small red beans
8 cups chicken broth
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
4 tablespoon butter, cubed
1 pound Andouille sausage, sliced
1 pound Tasso ham, diced
8 cups cooked rice
In a large stock pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add next five ingredients, all at once, and stir vigorously to coat with oil. Raise the heat to high and cook the vegetables, stirring, for about five minutes until fragrant. Add Cajun spice and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes, until aroma releases in a big way! Add bay leaves and dried beans, stir to coat evenly with spice and vegetables; then add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low; cook at a lively simmer for 2 1/2-3 hours* until the beans are very tender. Add water, if necessary, to keep beans covered with liquid. When beans are tender enough to crush against the roof of your mouth with your tongue, stir in the tomatoes. The concoction should be very thick. Next, add the cubed butter and stir slowly until melted and combined. The butter should not float to the top. When beans are almost done, saute sausage and ham in a little oil until nicely browned on all sides; stir into beans. Taste and add salt, if necessary, as salt content varies considerably in differing Cajun spice mixes, sausages and ham. Serve over rice and top with a little garnish of your choice.
Lagniappe-Garnish the red beans and rice with a spoonful of minced red onion, scallion, parsley, tomato, green pepper or all of the above. As Hunky says, "....but don't put any damn cheese on it. It's not refried beans!"
*Note-sometimes it might take longer to cook the beans until softened. One can never know how long dried beans have been sitting on the grocery shelf and they do become even drier over time. It's best to buy dried beans from a natural food store where they are offered in bulk bins. These stores tend to rotate through their stock more rapidly than conventional groceries.
As Louis Armstrong always signed off his correspondence,
"Red beans and ricely yours,"
Hunky and Olive
0 comments:
Post a Comment