Red Beans and Rice

Red Beans and Rice

1 ham bone (I used ham shank from the grocery store, it had so much meat on it, but it was good)

1 lb. dried red beans (the smaller kind, usually found in the mexican section)

1 large yellow onion, minced

1 cup green onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 cup celery, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tsp dried basil

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup butter

cayenne pepper (i used 1 1/2 tsp and it had a kick, use 1 tsp for more mild)

salt-only add in at the end (i used 2 tsp, depends on how salty the ham is)

white jasmine rice, cooked

Pick through the beans, make sure to remove any bad ones and rinse them well.  Add the beans to 2 quarts cold water in a 4 quart pot.  Bring them to a boil and simmer 2 minutes; remove them from the heat, cover and let stand one hour. 

Next, rinse the beans and discard the water that they soaked in, replacing it with another 2 quarts of fresh, cold water.  

Bring the beans to a boil with the ham bone in the pot.  

Once a boil is reached, turn down the heat to low.  Add in all the remaining ingredients except for the salt to the pot.  adding the salt will make the beans tough. 

Give it a stir and simmer uncovered on low heat, just enough to keep the contents of the pot percolating at a nice, low bubbly boil for FOUR hours, stirring and turning the ham bone every once in a while.  

Take the ham bone out at 3 1/2 hour and remove the meat and add the salt. Also remove the bay leaves. 

Mash the beans up a little bit as it thickens, until you get a roughly creamed consistency a little coarser, but thinner, than mexican refried beans.  

Make the rice. 

Serve on a large plate with a heaping ladle of cooked, white rice on top.  Goes great with cooked, smoked sausages.  But this ham shank had so much meat on it. 

In addition to chopping the vegetables by hand, I also give them quick whirl in the food processor before adding them to the pot.  That helps reduce the cooking time and to make the dish as smooth and creamy as traditions calls for. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE

See how small the veggies are. This picture above I took off the internet, my ham shank was meatier.