We will soon find ourselves in the height of Mardi Gras season here in coastal Alabama. At my house that means most parades are two blocks away. It also means lots of hungry, thirsty, parade- and ball-going friends in the house, both before and after a parade. At least once a season I make a big batch of red beans and rice for all of us. Year in and year out, everybody gobbles it up.
Coastal Alabamians have cooked, served, and enjoyed Creole Red Beans and Rice since the early 1800s. How popular are Red Beans and Rice along our slice of the upper Gulf Coast? Let me tell you: I worked in Mobile the summer after high school graduation. There was a lunch restaurant adjacent to Fort Conde. It was called either The Back Porch or just The Porch. (I’m sure someone will come along soon and tell us which.) You had to know it was there. The tiny sign was next to a heavy solid wood door in an ancient brick wall thickly covered with ivy. Inside you found yourself in an old brick courtyard filled with picnic tables, and there was a counter at the entrance to the original carriage house. They sold Red Beans and Rice and iced tea every single day, and not much else. The place was always packed.
This recipe is my mom’s and it’s the one I grew up on. It’s delicious and right in line with the wonderful Creole Red Beans and Rice you’ll find all over the Mobile area. (Note that many of your Louisiana friends and family will be horrified at the inclusion of tomatoes. Bless their hearts. It’s just that Mobile Creoles liked tomatoes and put them in lots of things that Louisiana Cajuns didn’t. It’s all good.)
I do add minced garlic these days. The original recipe called for dehydrated vegetables, actually, but those haven’t been available for years. I throw in a vegetable bouillon cube (Knorr Swiss makes them) and call it good. I’ve also taken to adding a teaspoon of baking soda. For reasons unknown, dried beans seem to take longer to soften than they used to. The alkalinity of the baking soda helps the dried beans to soften nicely.
Finally, when and whether to add smoked sausage to the pot of Red Beans and Rice is a matter of preference. I like to simmer the beans with a ham hock, then add well-browned smoked sausage slices to the beans for the last hour of cooking. Searing the sliced sausage before adding them to the big pot accomplishes two things. First, browning equals flavor (a win), and browning the sausage in a skillet first renders the fat from the sausage. Some cooks prefer to add sausage at the beginning, and some serve grilled smoked sausage atop individual bowls of Red Beans and Rice. Do whatever works for you.
The recipe below makes at least two quarts of red beans. We serve it on top of cooked, white rice. We don’t mix the beans and rice together until it’s on our plates. I always figure serving amounts at 2:1 beans to rice. Cornbread or French bread with soft butter are the ideal accompaniments. Although, lately I’ve been fantasizing about some really oniony crispy hush puppies instead.
Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Creole Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 lb. dried red beans
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic,minced
- 1 ham hock
- 1 large vegetable bouillon cube
- 1 t. baking soda
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 can diced tomatoes and chilies, drained
- 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
- 1 T. prepared mustard
- ½ t. dried oregano
- ½ t. dried thyme
- cooked white rice for serving
- browned smoked sausage for serving
- hot sauce for serving
Instructions
- Put dried beans in a deep pot. Add water to cover by at least a couple of inches. Let soak overnight.
- In the morning, drain the beans and add fresh water, again to cover by about 2 inches. Add onion, garlic, ham hock, bouillon cube, baking soda, bay leaves, tomatoes and chilies, tomato paste, mustard, oregano, and thyme. Bring just to a light boil over medium high heat. Turn heat down to medium low.
- Cook on a low simmer as long as necessary to soften the beans and thicken the liquid. This may take several hours, the amount of time depends on your beans. Once the red beans are completely tender, you can mash them a bit with a potato masher to make them creamier, according to preference.
- Serve with cooked white rice and browned sausage if using. Pass the hot sauce!
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