Megan's Fabulous New Orleans Red Beans and Rice

(This is from my good friend Megan Bronson who made these for me Mardi Gras Day.  They sick to your ribs and make life good. The editorial comments are all Megan's -abby)

2lbs dried red beans - rinse in water and soak overnight.  Put them in your biggest bowl, and add enough water so there's 2 inches of water above the pile of beans.  They should soak most of it up.  It's really cool to see actually.  And don't scrimp. You can always pour the extra water off in the morning, but you can never add more water, unless you're up around 3am I suppose.

Big pot

Green bell peppers - maybe 1 BIG one or 2 med ones

Onion - your pick of variety and same as peppers on quantity

Celery - 4 - 5 medium stalks.  I try to use up anything that looks like it's about to go bad.

Garlic - it's personal, I like lots. 6-7 cloves depending on their size

Olive oil for bottom of pot

Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Bay leaf

Chili Powder

Smoked sausage - I get away with using turkey sausage, but if you want to shell out big bucks for fancy full-fat beef or pork or whatever, go for it.

Ham hock

Andouille sausage (I found some really nice smoked hungarian sausage for those who live in small towns in Illinois)

Crystal hot sauce

1) Chop veggies - big pieces is totally fine. Everything boils down to mush anyway, so you don't have to worry about people biting into too big a piece. Cuts faster that way too.

2) Saute up cut veggies 'til they're a nice happy color and the house smells delish. I dunno, 7-8 mins??

3) Add beans that have been soaked overnight and given another quick rinse in the morning

4) Add enough water so there's 2 inches again over the top of the beans.

5) Cover. Put on high heat to get a good rolling boil. Stirring is fine, but the water usually puts enough motion in stuff that the veggies rise to the top.

6) Bring down to med heat. Add seasonings. I've never measured a single one. You're a smart chef though. You can guess how spicy or not spicy to make it. I think the most heat comes from the Cayenne. The chili powder just seems to add rich coloring. I could be wrong though.

7) Stir it a couple times. Cover. Walk away for 2-4 hours. OK, I guess you could stir it a couple times along the way.

8) 3 hours before you want to eat, plan on adding meats. Depends on how the beans look though. Mush them with the back of your spoon against the side of the pot. If they give easily, go ahead and mush 'em up a whole bunch. If not, come back later and try again. This part is personal too. We like 'em really thick and mushed to heck and back. Others might want to be able to still recognize the bean in its original shape. I mush until either my bracelet it too hot to stand being over the fire or my arm's tired. The longer they cook, the more they mush on their own anyway. If you are going to mush though, this is when to do it. Once the meats are in, they're in the way and make the job annoying.

9) Chop up sausage. I like to cut them into decent size slices. It's important to me that I be able to tell guests: "The round ones are turkey sausage and the half-rings are andouille" so I cut them a bit differently. That way, people can know right away whether it's a sausage they're willing to try. It's adorable how many pieces of andouille you'll see on a northerner's plate at the end of the meal. They just can't handle it all. You're preference though. You could trick them all, I would never know. Add sausage to pot.

10) Add ham hock to pot. Stir everything up. Make sure hock gets nestled into as much of the beans as possible.

11) Make sure it's at med to med-low heat. It needs to be hot, but you don't need to see lots of bubbles coming to the surface. Walk away for 3 hours. Stir hourly or half-hourly.

12) If at any point before you want to eat, the pot seems dry, ADD WATER. Scorched beans ruin the whole pot. Keeping them a little watery is much preferred to burning down the house. At the end, you can always crank up the heat, stir regularly, and boil off whatever water you want.

13) Convince someone other than yours truly to make you some rice - I ruined another batch last night in fact, ARGH!

14) I guess remove the bay leaves so one chokes, or just warn them to be on the lookout.

15) Put out bowls, spoons and Crystal Hot sauce. Let the feasting begin.

You'll notice I never added any salt. It's hard for me not to, but because the sausages are so very salty, they usually add all the salt I need. Maybe make it available to people along with the Crystal, but don't plan on putting any in unless you're using super low-sodium meats or something. Also, I stretch the cooking out over a day because I can't check on it because I'm at work on the other side of town. If you want to get it done faster, just crank up the heat. Stir more frequently of course though. I really like the 3 hour rule for the meats, but everything else is super flexible. If any of the above ingredients aren't available, it's totally edible without. Well, I guess at the very least you have to have the red beans and some sausage. Anyway, happy cooking and lemme know if I can be of any help. Enjoy!

Megs