Tara mentioned them.
I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
What are the critical components?
--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

>I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
>Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>What are the critical components?

There's been some discussion here before... does google work for you?

Steve

On 2/12/2011 5:14 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Tara mentioned them.
> I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
> Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
> What are the critical components?

Loosyanna red beans and rice are typically made with the trinity,
celery, onion, bell pepper; and sausage, or tasso, or andouille, or one
of the other speciality meats used for such things. Generally served
over rice and eaten as a main dish. Possible sides I have seen are
cornbread; potato salad; or a green salad. At least that's the way it's
made in this part of Loosyanna.

Many restaurants in this area serve red beans and rice on Wednesday for
the noon meal and those restaurants mostly have all the business they
can handle on that day.

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Tara mentioned them.
> I'm not all that familiar with the dish�educate me.
> Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
> What are the critical components?

Cajun, Tex-Mex, American south-western cuisine uses them as a stand
alone main dish, but often served with cornbread, carne asada, jambalya,
gumbo, etoufee or just about any other foods from the aforementioned
cuisine's.

While often times the, rice & beans are cooked just in water with S &
P, cooked very simply and served equally simply, they are also cooked
and spiced in various ways, often times emphasizing hot pepper.

Lots of people cook up meats, especially various sausages with the beans
and lots of other veggies are some times added.

Some times the rice is cooked with the beans, sometimes separately and
then served together with plenty of hot tortillas

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-...s_rice,FF.html
--
JL

On Feb 12, 5:54Â*pm, The Cook > wrote:

> Here is Art Simon's recipe. Â*The notes are his.

> * Exported from MasterCook *

> Â* 1 Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â*pound Â*red kidney beans -- dried

Well, this is wrong from the git-go.


Steve

George Shirley wrote:
> On 2/12/2011 5:14 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>> Tara mentioned them.
>> I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
>> Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>> What are the critical components?
>
> Loosyanna red beans and rice are typically made with the trinity,
> celery, onion, bell pepper; and sausage, or tasso, or andouille, or one
> of the other speciality meats used for such things. Generally served
> over rice and eaten as a main dish. Possible sides I have seen are
> cornbread; potato salad; or a green salad. At least that's the way it's
> made in this part of Loosyanna.
>
> Many restaurants in this area serve red beans and rice on Wednesday for
> the noon meal and those restaurants mostly have all the business they
> can handle on that day.


I sometimes add a crushed chipotle pepper instead of sausage or
hamhocks and make it vegetarian. Typical seasonings are thyme,
basil, and garlic (plus the trinity.)

Use small red beans, not kidney beans. I also doctor-up canned
blackeyed peas this way and eat them with rice.

This would be a good use for the smoke pork neckbones they sell at
Cub Foods.

Bob

On 2/12/2011 4:56 PM, Steve Pope wrote:
> Melba's > wrote:
>
>> I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
>> Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>> What are the critical components?
>
> There's been some discussion here before... does google work for you?
>
> Steve



Google doesn't help rfc get back on a food-discussion track.

gloria p

zxcvbob > wrote:

>Use small red beans, not kidney beans.

+1.

It is too bad there are so many suggestions out there to
substitute kidney beans, because it doesn't work nearly as
well and a few people even actively dislike the spongey texture
of kidney beans.


Steve

gloria.p > wrote:

>On 2/12/2011 4:56 PM, Steve Pope wrote:

>> There's been some discussion here before... does google work for you?

>Google doesn't help rfc get back on a food-discussion track.

No, but it might help an individual looking for information.

Steve

In article >,
"l, not -l" > wrote:

> On 12-Feb-2011, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>
> > Tara mentioned them.
> > I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
> > Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
> > What are the critical components?
>
> It was originally a main course, perhaps served with an additional sausage
> on-the-side (andouille most often). Served with a salad and good french
> bread, you won't go hungy.
>
> As with many dishes, there are probably as many variations as there are
> cooks; but, all will generally contain a few basic items:
> - trinity (diced bell pepper, onion and celery)
> - small red beans (IMO the best choice, though many folks use red kidney
> beans)
> - meat; diced tasso and/or sliced sausage (usually andouille) or pickled
> pork
>
> The best background on ingredients and recipes I know on the web are on the
> NoLa Cuisine website:
> http://www.nolacuisine.com/
>
> A quick search for "red beans rice" will turn up the pertinent entries,
> including one on homemade tasso.
> http://www.nolacuisine.com/?s=red+beans+rice

I generally agree with this post but I would use bayo beans.

D.M.

In article >,
"l, not -l" > wrote:

> On 12-Feb-2011, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>
> As with many dishes, there are probably as many variations as there
> are cooks; but, all will generally contain a few basic items:
> - trinity (diced bell pepper, onion and celery) - small red beans
> (IMO the best choice, though many folks use red kidney beans) - meat;
> diced tasso and/or sliced sausage (usually andouille) or pickled pork

>
> The best background on ingredients and recipes I know on the web are on the
> NoLa Cuisine website:
> http://www.nolacuisine.com/
>
> A quick search for "red beans rice" will turn up the pertinent entries,
> including one on homemade tasso.
> http://www.nolacuisine.com/?s=red+beans+rice

Without comparing recipes, that sounds like jambalaya.
Thanks.

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

In article >,
George Shirley > wrote:

> On 2/12/2011 5:14 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> > Tara mentioned them.
> > I'm not all that familiar with the dishÐeducate me.
> > Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
> > What are the critical components?
>
> Loosyanna red beans and rice are typically made with the trinity,
> celery, onion, bell pepper; and sausage, or tasso, or andouille, or one
> of the other speciality meats used for such things. Generally served
> over rice and eaten as a main dish. Possible sides I have seen are
> cornbread; potato salad; or a green salad. At least that's the way it's
> made in this part of Loosyanna.
>
> Many restaurants in this area serve red beans and rice on Wednesday for
> the noon meal and those restaurants mostly have all the business they
> can handle on that day.

Do you or Miz Anne make the dish, Jorge? Do you serve the beans atop
the rice or mix it all together?

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

In article >,
(Steve Pope) wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>
> >I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
> >Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
> >What are the critical components?
>
> There's been some discussion here before... does google work for you?
>
> Steve

There's been discussion of most everything here before, Steve. Sorry to
have bothered you.

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> (Steve Pope) wrote:

>> Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

>> >I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
>> >Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>> >What are the critical components?

>> There's been some discussion here before... does google work for you?

>There's been discussion of most everything here before, Steve. Sorry to
>have bothered you.

Hmm. I was only suggesting it might be expedient to look up some older
posts. I was not bothered.

Steve

On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:15:28 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

> In article >,
> (Steve Pope) wrote:
>
> > Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
> >
> > >I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
> > >Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
> > >What are the critical components?
> >
> > There's been some discussion here before... does google work for you?
> >
> > Steve
>
> There's been discussion of most everything here before, Steve. Sorry to
> have bothered you.

I'm usually the one who is posing that question. Find a bag of dry
beans that are called "small red beans". Those are what you want to
use, not kidney. Anyway, I finally made red beans & rice and it
turned out to be much ado about nothing. The good news is that I now
prefer the small red beans over kidney beans in chili (if you ever
make your chili with beans). So the conclusion is that I will
continue to buy small red beans, but I won't make red beans and rice
with them.



--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On 2011-02-12, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
> Tara mentioned them.
> I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
> Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
> What are the critical components?

Near as I can tell, most everyone who's responded to you is an idiot.

"Tex-Mex"? The Houston Chronicle? "Generally served with rice..."?
Freakin' "tortillas"? Sweet Jesus on the cross!

It's ALWAYS served with rice, you morons! Hence the name. I suggest
you ingnore all these pretenders and go to the source, someone who
grew up in New Orleans and loves the cuisine enough to become a chef
and create an authortative website all about it with extensive recipes
and background:

http://www.gumbopages.com/food/red-beans.html

I've been reading this website for years and I go here for all things
Cajun/Creole, first. It even out-BAMs Emeril.

nb

notbob wrote:
> On 2011-02-12, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>> Tara mentioned them.
>> I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
>> Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>> What are the critical components?
>
> Near as I can tell, most everyone who's responded to you is an idiot.
>
> "Tex-Mex"? The Houston Chronicle? "Generally served with rice..."?
> Freakin' "tortillas"? Sweet Jesus on the cross!
>
> It's ALWAYS served with rice, you morons! Hence the name. I suggest
> you ingnore all these pretenders and go to the source, someone who
> grew up in New Orleans and loves the cuisine enough to become a chef
> and create an authortative website all about it with extensive recipes
> and background:
>
> http://www.gumbopages.com/food/red-beans.html
>
> I've been reading this website for years and I go here for all things
> Cajun/Creole, first. It even out-BAMs Emeril.
>
> nb


The gumbopages recipe looks pretty good, but it should use small red
beans instead of KB's, and it needs a little cayenne.

-Bob

sf > wrote:

>On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:15:28 -0600, Melba's Jammin'

> wrote:

>> In article >,
>> (Steve Pope) wrote:
>>
>> > Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>> >
>> > >I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
>> > >Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>> > >What are the critical components?
>> >
>> > There's been some discussion here before... does google work for you?
>> >
>> > Steve
>>
>> There's been discussion of most everything here before, Steve. Sorry to
>> have bothered you.

>I'm usually the one who is posing that question. Find a bag of dry
>beans that are called "small red beans". Those are what you want to
>use, not kidney. Anyway, I finally made red beans & rice and it
>turned out to be much ado about nothing.

Well, for me, it's my favorite bean-and-rice dish. I can't quite explain
why other than that the small red beans, the holy trinity, and the
seasonings combine in a unique way. For me.

>The good news is that I now
>prefer the small red beans over kidney beans in chili (if you ever
>make your chili with beans). So the conclusion is that I will
>continue to buy small red beans, but I won't make red beans and rice
>with them.

They're very good chili beans.

Steve

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> On 2/12/2011 5:14 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>> Tara mentioned them.
>> I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
>> Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>> What are the critical components?
>
> Loosyanna red beans and rice are typically made with the trinity, celery,
> onion, bell pepper; and sausage, or tasso, or andouille, or one of the
> other speciality meats used for such things. Generally served over rice
> and eaten as a main dish. Possible sides I have seen are cornbread; potato
> salad; or a green salad. At least that's the way it's made in this part of
> Loosyanna.
>
> Many restaurants in this area serve red beans and rice on Wednesday for
> the noon meal and those restaurants mostly have all the business they can
> handle on that day.


Used to be a Monday (wash day) meal. Barb could just buy a box of
Zatarain's and add some smoked sausage But I've posted Paul Prudhomme's
recipe in the past... let me Google for it. Posted in 2002. Here it is.

From Paul Prudhomme's 'Louisiana Kitchen':

1/2 lb. dry red kidney beans
water to cover the beans
About 10 cups water in all
3 lbs. small ham hocks
1-1/4 c. finely chopped celery
1 c. finely chopped onions
1 c. finely chopped green bell peppers
3 bay leaves
1-1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried red pepper (cayenne)
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Cover the beans with water 2 inches above and soak overnight (or use the
quick soak method on the bag). Drain and set aside. Place 8 cups of water
and remaining ingredients in a 5-1/2 quart saucepan or large dutch oven (I
use a small stock pot) and stir well. Cover and bring to a boil over high
heat. Remove cover, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Raise the heat and boil until the meat falls off the bones, about 15 to 20
minutes. Remove the meat and the bones from the pan and discard the bones.
Set the meat aside. Add the drained beans and the remaining 2 cups of water
to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer,
and cook until the beans are tender and starting to break up, about 1 hour,
stirring occasionally. Add the diced ham back to the pot and simmer about
10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Makes about 7 cups.

Jill

In news:rec.food.cooking, sf > posted on Sat, 12 Feb 2011
18:57:39 -0800 the following:

> I'm usually the one who is posing that question. Find a bag of dry
> beans that are called "small red beans". Those are what you want to
> use, not kidney. Anyway, I finally made red beans & rice and it
> turned out to be much ado about nothing. The good news is that I now
> prefer the small red beans over kidney beans in chili (if you ever
> make your chili with beans). So the conclusion is that I will
> continue to buy small red beans, but I won't make red beans and rice
> with them.

Well, when I make red beans & rice, I always put two packages of Eckrich
Skinless Smoked Sausage in it. I cut the sausages in half lengthwise then
in half again to make four quarters. I then cut across the quartered
sausage to get triangles with one rounded edge. I don't put celery in it,
but I do put finely diced onion and green pepper in it. I also include
garlic, salt to taste, black pepper, thyme and a couple or three bay
leaves. For the liquid, I don't use water. I use chicken broth, and
sometimes a mixture of both chicken and beef broth, but I use more chicken
than beef. It really is a wonderful food, but the sausage is very
necessary to get the right flavor.

I cook it in a crock pot. After about six to eight hours, you'll have
perfection, and you can keep it at a temperature that maintains 160
degrees for quite a while. Stir regularly. If it sits for too long, the
sausage that surfaces will turn a rather unsightly color, but it's still
safe to eat and it tastes fantastic. It just tastes better and better as
the hours go by. When I cook that, I'll eat many small servings
throughout the day.

For the rice, I use two cups of Jasmine rice and I rinse it until the
water runs clear. I use a rice cooker and I start with a can of chicken
broth and enough water to take the liquid content up to about 2.75 cups of
liquid, plus one stick of butter. It makes a nice, firm rice that's easy
to fluff, but you won't get the crunchy bits. Your mileage may vary if
you go for stovetop rice. Also the butter will scorch a little on the
bottom, but it won't stick and I like the flavor of that browned butter.
The rice can get kind of mushy in a rice cooker if left for too long, so
after a couple of hours, I just take it out and put it in the fridge. When
I get ready for another small serving, I'll just dip a little out of the
container in the fridge, microwave it for half a minute to knock the
chill, then ladle a helping of beans and sausage over it.

Also, I've used both "small red beans" and dried kidney beans. I like
this dish with either type of bean.

Damaeus

In news:rec.food.cooking, Sqwertz > posted on Sat,
12 Feb 2011 23:36:55 -0600 the following:

> On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:56:23 -0600, Damaeus wrote:
>
> > Well, when I make red beans & rice, I always put two packages of Eckrich
> > Skinless Smoked Sausage in it.
>
> Eckrich!?!!? Blasphemy. This is a Hillshire Farms group!

If Hillshire Farms has skinless sausage, I'd be glad to try it.

Damaeus

On 2011-02-13, Damaeus > wrote:

> If Hillshire Farms has skinless sausage, I'd be glad to try it.

Hillshire Farms barely qualifies as meat!

nb

"Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "l, not -l" > wrote:
>
>> On 12-Feb-2011, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>>
>> As with many dishes, there are probably as many variations as there
>> are cooks; but, all will generally contain a few basic items:
>> - trinity (diced bell pepper, onion and celery) - small red beans
>> (IMO the best choice, though many folks use red kidney beans) - meat;
>> diced tasso and/or sliced sausage (usually andouille) or pickled pork
>
>>
>> The best background on ingredients and recipes I know on the web are on
>> the
>> NoLa Cuisine website:
>> http://www.nolacuisine.com/
>>
>> A quick search for "red beans rice" will turn up the pertinent entries,
>> including one on homemade tasso.
>> http://www.nolacuisine.com/?s=red+beans+rice
>
> Without comparing recipes, that sounds like jambalaya.
> Thanks.
>
> --
> Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ


The two dishes aren't all that different.

Jill

> Loosyanna red beans and rice are typically made with the trinity,
> celery, onion, bell pepper; and sausage, or tasso, or andouille, or one
> of the other speciality meats used for such things. Generally served
> over rice and eaten as a main dish. Possible sides I have seen are
> cornbread; potato salad; or a green salad. At least that's the way it's
> made in this part of Loosyanna.
>
> Many restaurants in this area serve red beans and rice on Wednesday for
> the noon meal and those restaurants mostly have all the business they
> can handle on that day.

Red Beans and Rice can be made vegetarian, but the authentic recipes
call for Andouille Sausage or a good smoked sausage if Andouille is
not available. I have used the Johnsonville Andouille Sausage and it
turned out fine. As far as a side dish to serve with it, a biscuit or
piece of cornbread works for me. Also, Red Beans and Rice is
generally served non-spicy, and you add the hot sauce to your liking
at the table.

On Feb 12, 11:29*pm, Sqwertz > wrote:
> On Sun, 13 Feb 2011 00:49:49 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:
> > On Feb 12, 5:54*pm, The Cook > wrote:
>
> >> *1 pound red kidney beans -- dried
>
> > Well, this is wrong from the git-go.
>
> That's what I thought too.

The kidney beans are wrong. The green onions are WRONG.
>
> -sw

--Bryan

Make sure you use a big wooden spoon or potato masher to mash some of
the beans against the side of the pot. That will give you a rich,
creamy broth.

My husband told me red beans and rice were served in his Metairie, LA
elementary school cafeteria just about every Monday.

Tara

I find it very interesting that so many cultures invented a legume and
grain dish -- delicious, comforting, healthy, full of protein and
fiber, and cheap!

red beans and rice
black beans and rice
pinto beans and cornbread
succotash
beans and corn tortillas
baked beans and brown bread
hummus and pita bread
lentils and rice
chickpeas and rice
black eyed peas with rice and / cornbread

Tara

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:56:23 -0600, Damaeus wrote:
>
>> Well, when I make red beans & rice, I always put two packages of Eckrich
>> Skinless Smoked Sausage in it.
>
> Eckrich!?!!? Blasphemy. This is a Hillshire Farms group!
>
> -sw


LOL I was questioning the use of jasmine rice. It's a very fragrant rice.
Certainly not something I'd use in a dish like this.

Jill

"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> notbob wrote:
>> On 2011-02-12, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>>> Tara mentioned them.
>>> I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
>>> Is that the main course? What's a typical side? What are the critical
>>> components?
>>
>> Near as I can tell, most everyone who's responded to you is an idiot.
>>
>> "Tex-Mex"? The Houston Chronicle? "Generally served with rice..."?
>> Freakin' "tortillas"? Sweet Jesus on the cross!
>>
>> It's ALWAYS served with rice, you morons! Hence the name. I suggest
>> you ingnore all these pretenders and go to the source, someone who
>> grew up in New Orleans and loves the cuisine enough to become a chef
>> and create an authortative website all about it with extensive recipes
>> and background:
>>
>> http://www.gumbopages.com/food/red-beans.html
>>
>> I've been reading this website for years and I go here for all things
>> Cajun/Creole, first. It even out-BAMs Emeril.
>>
>> nb
>
>
> The gumbopages recipe looks pretty good, but it should use small red beans
> instead of KB's, and it needs a little cayenne.
>
> -Bob


I went to a restaurant back in TN, can't remember the name of it, and
ordered a bowl of red beans and rice. They brought it to me with no less
than 6 spring onions sticking out of it as some sort of garnish. It looked
like an alien had sprouted antennae. What they were trying to accomplish is
beyond me. To this day I have no idea whether or not they made good RB&R.
It was so ridiculous looking I sent it back and ordered the Monte Cristo
sandwich instead. *That* they definitely did get right!

Jill

On 2/12/2011 7:37 PM, zxcvbob wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
>> On 2/12/2011 5:14 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>>> Tara mentioned them.
>>> I'm not all that familiar with the dish‹educate me.
>>> Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>>> What are the critical components?
>>
>> Loosyanna red beans and rice are typically made with the trinity,
>> celery, onion, bell pepper; and sausage, or tasso, or andouille, or
>> one of the other speciality meats used for such things. Generally
>> served over rice and eaten as a main dish. Possible sides I have seen
>> are cornbread; potato salad; or a green salad. At least that's the way
>> it's made in this part of Loosyanna.
>>
>> Many restaurants in this area serve red beans and rice on Wednesday
>> for the noon meal and those restaurants mostly have all the business
>> they can handle on that day.
>
>
> I sometimes add a crushed chipotle pepper instead of sausage or hamhocks
> and make it vegetarian. Typical seasonings are thyme, basil, and garlic
> (plus the trinity.)
I have never met a Cajun that was a vegetarian. Guess there might be
some but folks I know want some meat in their beans.
>
> Use small red beans, not kidney beans. I also doctor-up canned blackeyed
> peas this way and eat them with rice.

Red beans around here are large kidney beans, haven't seen any
restaurants using the small red beans. My Mom always used pinto beans,
don't remember eating any kidney beans until I came to Louisiana.
>
> This would be a good use for the smoke pork neckbones they sell at Cub
> Foods.
>
> Bob
Smoked meat of any kind is good in beans.

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:15:28 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
>> In article >,
>> (Steve Pope) wrote:
>>
>> > Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>> >
>> > >I'm not all that familiar with the dish<educate me.
>> > >Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>> > >What are the critical components?
>> >
>> > There's been some discussion here before... does google work for you?
>> >
>> > Steve
>>
>> There's been discussion of most everything here before, Steve. Sorry to
>> have bothered you.
>
> I'm usually the one who is posing that question. Find a bag of dry
> beans that are called "small red beans". Those are what you want to
> use, not kidney. Anyway, I finally made red beans & rice and it
> turned out to be much ado about nothing. The good news is that I now
> prefer the small red beans over kidney beans in chili (if you ever
> make your chili with beans). So the conclusion is that I will
> continue to buy small red beans, but I won't make red beans and rice
> with them.
>
I concur there's really nothing special about the dish although I do like
it. It's a lot of work for beans & rice. And it does have some spice to it
(unlike one poster said). But I haven't been able to find small red beans
so I make due with kidney beans. Hey, if they're good enough for Paul
Prudhomme they're good enough for me. When I make it (rarely) I do look for
andouille sausage to keep it authentic. It's harder to find now that I'm in
SC. Tasso is definitely out of the question. Ham hocks... hmmm, I need to
go to Piggly Wiggly.

Jill

On 2/12/2011 8:12 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In >,
> George > wrote:
>
>> On 2/12/2011 5:14 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>>> Tara mentioned them.
>>> I'm not all that familiar with the dishÐeducate me.
>>> Is that the main course? What's a typical side?
>>> What are the critical components?
>>
>> Loosyanna red beans and rice are typically made with the trinity,
>> celery, onion, bell pepper; and sausage, or tasso, or andouille, or one
>> of the other speciality meats used for such things. Generally served
>> over rice and eaten as a main dish. Possible sides I have seen are
>> cornbread; potato salad; or a green salad. At least that's the way it's
>> made in this part of Loosyanna.
>>
>> Many restaurants in this area serve red beans and rice on Wednesday for
>> the noon meal and those restaurants mostly have all the business they
>> can handle on that day.
>
> Do you or Miz Anne make the dish, Jorge? Do you serve the beans atop
> the rice or mix it all together?
>
Miz Anne only cooks when I'm to sick to do so. I serve the beans atop
the rice and then we mix them up with some homemade hot sauce, freshly
ground black pepper, and, quite often, finely diced onion. I think every
cook around here has their own recipe.

Some friends have a tailor shop, specializing in Nomex clothing for the
local refineries and chemical plants. I helped them cook a 42 gallon pot
of red beans the other day to feed one of their customers. Big old pot
of rice to go with it. We put about 15 lbs of andouille in the pot with
the beans, lots of onion, bell pepper, and celery. I learned to cook red
beans and rice their way at their house about twenty years ago. Their
last name is Hebert, no, no, not like He bert, it's A Bear. Definitely
24 carat Cajun the two of them.

On 2/13/2011 5:54 AM, Michael O'Connor wrote:
>
>> Loosyanna red beans and rice are typically made with the trinity,
>> celery, onion, bell pepper; and sausage, or tasso, or andouille, or one
>> of the other speciality meats used for such things. Generally served
>> over rice and eaten as a main dish. Possible sides I have seen are
>> cornbread; potato salad; or a green salad. At least that's the way it's
>> made in this part of Loosyanna.
>>
>> Many restaurants in this area serve red beans and rice on Wednesday for
>> the noon meal and those restaurants mostly have all the business they
>> can handle on that day.
>
> Red Beans and Rice can be made vegetarian, but the authentic recipes
> call for Andouille Sausage or a good smoked sausage if Andouille is
> not available. I have used the Johnsonville Andouille Sausage and it
> turned out fine. As far as a side dish to serve with it, a biscuit or
> piece of cornbread works for me. Also, Red Beans and Rice is
> generally served non-spicy, and you add the hot sauce to your liking
> at the table.

I nearly got sick at one meal, they had chicken and sausage gumbo and a
side of potato salad. I was the only one there who didn't pick up the
bowl of potato salad and dump it into their gumbo. In addition they had
put shelled boiled eggs into the gumbo and made sure everyone got one. I
was raised thirty miles from where I live now in Louisiana but in Texas,
never saw that before but ate it anyway and didn't much care for the
blending of flavors. I guess foods are a matter of choice and the way
you were taught to eat them.

On 2/13/2011 8:56 AM, Tara wrote:
> Make sure you use a big wooden spoon or potato masher to mash some of
> the beans against the side of the pot. That will give you a rich,
> creamy broth.
>
> My husband told me red beans and rice were served in his Metairie, LA
> elementary school cafeteria just about every Monday.
>
> Tara

Pinto beans and rice, both government commodities, were served twice a
week in the Texas elementary and high schools I went to in the forties
and fifties. That and those cafeteria rolls I still crave today. Luckily
the local school system makes them the same way so I eat lunch with my
school teacher wife at least once a week.

In article >,
(Steve Pope) wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
> >There's been discussion of most everything here before, Steve. Sorry to
> >have bothered you.
>
> Hmm. I was only suggesting it might be expedient to look up some older
> posts. I was not bothered.
>
> Steve

I have rotten luck searching Google Groups. I'm doing something wrong
but I don't know what it is.

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

On Sun, 13 Feb 2011 10:51:46 -0500, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

> I concur there's really nothing special about the dish although I do like
> it. It's a lot of work for beans & rice. And it does have some spice to it
> (unlike one poster said). But I haven't been able to find small red beans
> so I make due with kidney beans. Hey, if they're good enough for Paul
> Prudhomme they're good enough for me. When I make it (rarely) I do look for
> andouille sausage to keep it authentic. It's harder to find now that I'm in
> SC. Tasso is definitely out of the question. Ham hocks... hmmm, I need to
> go to Piggly Wiggly.

Unfortunately, unless we find boutique andouille, we're pretty much
limited to Bruce Adelle's version which lost it's original punch to
sell more product to the masses. It doesn't even look the same.

I thought I'd added more kick to the red beans & rice (and also doused
it with Tabasco after plating), but it was uninteresting. It's not
that I don't eat beans & rice, I make mung beans with rice which I
think has more flavor and I love black eyed peas and rice although for
some reason, I don't make it very often.

I'm not so sure about Tasso either. It seems to me "pickled meat"
would be an acquired taste. Maybe I'd have a different reaction if I
used decent ham hocks from the butcher.

We have a boutique CSA type butcher who is going to be producing
andouille, tasso and honey lemon bacon. We go to a local park to pick
it up. I'm tempted to try his wares, especially the andouille... but
at $10 a pound, I'd better like it.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Feb 12, 3:14Â*pm, Melba's Jammin' >
wrote:
> Tara mentioned them.
> I'm not all that familiar with the dish€¹educate me.
> Is that the main course? Â*What's a typical side? Â*
> What are the critical components?
> --
> Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
> Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
> "Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
> Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;http://web.me.com/barbschaller

Hey Barb. There is a history of red beans and rice and the recipe I
used on my website.

We served them on Monday's as a lunch special because they are a
traditional Monday dish. I used andouille sausage and small red
beans. One of my favorite comfort dishes.

http://www.hizzoners.com/recipes/lun...d-beans-a-rice

oh, and you need a good chunk of crusty French bread to sop up the
juices too!!

On Feb 13, 7:58*am, George Shirley > wrote:

>
> Pinto beans and rice, both government commodities, were served twice a
> week in the Texas elementary and high schools I went to in the forties
> and fifties. That and those cafeteria rolls I still crave today. Luckily
> the local school system makes them the same way so I eat lunch with my
> school teacher wife at least once a week.

George, I love pinto beans cooked with onion and a ham hock, and put
over big slices of buttered cornbread and topped with some good hot
pepper relish "chow chow". Grew up on those and I still make them
once in a while to feed my comfort food cravings.

Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

>I have rotten luck searching Google Groups. I'm doing something wrong
>but I don't know what it is.

It's definitely degraded right now. If I go to
groups.google.com, check "google groups only", and enter search
terms of "Steve" and "red beans and rice" I get a large volume of
results that includes posts that click through to my past posts.
If I add "rec.food.cooking" to the search terms in an attempt
to narrow it down, I get zero results! Definitely borked.

To me it has the appearance of omitting the header, and the last few
lines of each each post from the search base.

Steve

On 2011-02-13, zxcvbob > wrote:

> The gumbopages recipe looks pretty good, but it should use small red
> beans instead of KB's, and it needs a little cayenne.

Wiki says either are acceptable. Most recipes indicate KBs, but then
show an almost refried bean texture in pics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Red_beans.jpg

I've never had authentic RB&R in LA, but I love Popeye's version,
which is suposedly award winning, if chain food can actually aspire to
such a thing. Popeye's is almost like refried beans, in texture.

What I see in pics of RB&R are beans that appear to have been boiled
w/o pre-soaking, my preferred bean cooking method. It would be near
impossible to mash or get bean cream from pre-soaked or frozen or
canned beans, as KBs have extremely tough skins. I'm not a KB fan for
that reason alone.

OTOH, I used to feel that way about lima beans, too, till I discovered
boiling dried lima beans w/o pre-soaking caused the skins to turn
almost gossamer/diaphanous in texture. I've not tried it with dried
KBs, but should. It would explain the creamy, almost refried, texture
of KBs in RB&R dish pictures.

I agree about the cayenne. Needs some HOT. I've been using Tabasco
habanero, of late. Not really that hot and has great flavor.

nb