red beans and rice recipes

May

Red Beans and Rice

Red Beans and Rice

Cornbread

Mixed Green Salad

Bourbon Butter Pecan Ice Cream Pie

with Vanilla Cookie Crust

Louisiana-style cooking is a big favorite around our house. Our youngest son always asks for Red Beans and Rice for his birthday. If I serve this meal for a big party, I usually add some fried chicken to the menu. But for a simpler meal for a smaller crowd, I just make the red beans. My version has a lot of sausage in it, so it is a very hearty dish. The Bourbon Butter Pecan Ice Cream Pie is a cool and creamy finale to the spicy heat of the main course.

Red Beans and Rice

1 pound dried small red beans

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green pepper, chopped

5 large stalks celery, chopped

1 smoked turkey thigh (or 2 ham hocks)

4 bay leaves

2 teaspoons thyme

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, depending on how hot your particular batch of cayenne is, and on how hot you like your food. The heat level of cayenne pepper can vary considerably. I would start with ½ teaspoon and add more later if desired.

1 ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds cooked andouille sausage (If using uncooked sausage, use 3 pounds)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Kosher salt

4 cups converted rice

Tabasco sauce

Soak dried beans overnight. Drain beans and combine in a large pot with onion, green pepper, celery, turkey thigh or ham hocks, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Cover with about 3 quarts water. Bring to a simmer and simmer slowly about 1 ½ hours. Remove turkey thigh or ham hocks and cool a bit. Remove bones and fat, shred remaining meat and return to the pot. Cook beans slowly another 2 hours, or until tender, adding more water if necessary.

Cut sausages in half lengthwise, and then slice into ¼“ slices. (I like to slice the sausage into half-rounds. If you slice it into rounds, the skins can sometimes feel like rubber bands in your mouth.) Sauté in two batches in vegetable oil until lightly caramelized. Add sausage to the pot, along with 2 teaspoons salt. Cook another 30 minutes. Check for seasoning, and add more salt if necessary.

Put 8 cups water in a pot with 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil. Add rice, stir, cover, and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let rest for 5 minutes.

To serve, put ½ - ¾ cup rice in the bottom of a bowl. Top with beans. Season with a few drops of Tabasco sauce if desired.

Cornbread

I have to be honest here and admit that I make my cornbread from a mix. I’ve tried to make it from scratch, but I haven’t come up with a great recipe yet. My favorite mix is Martha’s Organic Gourmet Corn Bread Mix, which I buy at Whole Foods Market. The only thing I do differently is add 1/3 cup sugar. I like my cornbread sweet, and this mix is not sweet enough for my taste. Use your favorite cornbread with the Red Beans and Rice, or try Martha’s if you are in the mood to try something different. In any case, serve with plenty of butter.

Bourbon Butter Pecan Ice Cream Pie with Vanilla Cookie Crust

1 cup sugar

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon corn syrup

½ cup cream

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon Jack Daniels whiskey

2 cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs

¼ cup melted butter

2 quarts premium butter pecan ice cream (I prefer Häagen-Dazs. It is the creamiest)

Heat the cream in a small saucepan or in the microwave and have the warm cream ready. Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a 2-quarts saucepan. You need a larger pan than you think, because the mixture will bubble up. Stir together over medium-high heat until sugar has dissolved. Stop stirring and bring to a boil without stirring any more. Boil until sugar becomes deep amber in color. Remove from heat and very slowly pour in the cream. The mixture will bubble up wildly. Stir until bubbles subside a bit, then add 2 tablespoons butter and stir until butter is completely melted. Pour into a clean bowl without scraping any of the mixture off the sides of your saucepan. Stir in vanilla and Jack Daniels. Let cool to room temperature.

Combine 1 ½ cups of the vanilla cookie crumbs (reserving ½ cup) with ¼ cup melted butter. Press into bottom of a 9” springform pan. Soften one of the quarts of ice cream in the microwave, 20 seconds at a time, until very soft. Spread evenly over the cookie crumb crust. Freeze until hard. Remove from freezer and spread all but ¼ cup of the caramel over the ice cream. Freeze again until caramel has hardened. Soften the remaining 1 quart ice cream and spread over the caramel as before. Freeze until ready to serve.

Remove sides of springform pan and press remaining cookie crumbs into sides of pie. Drizzle remaining caramel sauce decoratively over the top. Return to the freezer if not serving immediately. Let soften just slightly before serving.