Cathe's Red Beans and Rice

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Title: Cathe's Red Beans and Rice
Categories: Cajun, Entrees, Legumes, Cathe
Yield: 15 servings

3 lb Red kidney beans, dry 2 ts Oregano
-or light red beans, 2 ts Garlic powder
-or cranberry beans 1/4 ts Cayenne pepper, ground
Water to cover -(or more)
3/4 lb Ham trimmings, lean 1/2 ts Black pepper, ground
-or 6 ham hocks 1/2 ts Tabasco sauce (or more)
6 c Water (more as needed) 2 lb Manda's sausage (spicy)
2 c Celery, finely chopped -or Jimmy Dean Mesquite
2 c Onion, finely chopped -link sausage, regular,
2 c Bell pepper, finely chopped -sliced diagonally
5 Bay leaves -into 1/2-inch pieces
2 ts White pepper 8 c Rice, cooked (or more)
2 ts Thyme

Empty the beans into a 6-quart saucepan. Run water over them, washing them
with your hands and picking out any stones or bad beans. Drain and repeat
until the water runs clear and has no sand in it.

Add water to the pot to cover the beans by about 4 inches. Place on a
large burner and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat slightly,
boil gently for 3 minutes, remove from burner and cover. Let the covered
pot sit, unopened, for an hour. Drain and reserve the beans, discarding
the juice.

Place the ham pieces, 2 cups of water, the chopped vegetables and
seasonings in a 12-quart saucepan or large dutch oven. Stir well, cover
and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the
meat is fork tender, about an hour, stirring occasionally.

Remove the meat from the pan and tear it into small pieces. Set it aside.
(If using ham hocks, cover with water to cook. The beans will have to cook
down longer to reach their normal consistency. You may not need to add any
extra water.)

Add the drained beans and 2 cups water to the pan with the ham broth and
vegetables. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat and simmer 30
minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sliced sausage and 2 cups more
water if the beans are not covered with liquid and continue simmering until
the beans start breaking into pieces, about 35 more minutes, stirring often
to the bottom of the pan.

If the beans start to scorch, do not stir. Instead, immediately remove
them from the heat and transfer them to another pot without scraping any
scorched beans into the mixture. Add the ham pieces or hocks and cook
about 10 minutes more, stirring often. Do not let the mixture get dried out
like refried beans, but keep it thicker than cream soup.

To serve, mound 1/2 cup cooked rice in a bowl and cover with beans, ham and
sausage pieces. Serves 15 to 20 as a side dish.

Cathe's notes:

* Adapted from Chef Paul's, page 190

* The original recipe had approximately the same amount of vegetables, ham
and spices as above, but had just one pound of beans. I added one extra
pound of sausage and 2 extra pounds of beans, but kept everything else the
same. The original recipe had proportionally much more cayenne pepper and
Tabasco sauce. Normally I would make this a lot spicier than this, but not
as spicy as the original recipe.

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