Red Beans, Sausage & Rice . . . and a few ramblings

I love to cook!  I also love to feed people.  It's a great combination.

While I was mowing today, I was considering that I should make a couple of separate pages for this blog; maybe one for health & fitness, another one for recipes, etc., etc.

That's not something that is going to be done today . . . nor probably any day this week, but I do beleive that mutliple pages for Swirlings is in the near future.

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But for right here and right now . . .

. . . Many of my recipes have never even been written down; it's only been recently, perhaps in the last few years, that I have endeavored to created a written record of what I cook.  One of the main reasons for this deplorable lack of scribed cuisine collection is that most of the time (not always, but often) I don't measure things.  The caveat to that is when I'm baking; I'm pretty precise with my measurements when baking.

But other methods of cooking . . . I cook by sight and by taste.  And then some more taste.  And maybe a bit more taste just to be sure.  Quality-control, doncha know.  :)

Also, rarely does a recipe that isn't mine not get tweaked by me.  I'm a tweaker.  I add some of this, leave out some of that - and come up with what works for me.

Oh.  And I'm not sure where I learned to cook for an army (especially considering that my father was in the Navy - heehee), but I did.  I've always cooked large quantities of food.  I think it has something to do with my passion for feeding people.  And it's served me well; Tex loves eating food as much as I love cooking it!  What a great team we make!

I'm also a "from-scratch" cook. I try to use as few packaged and processed foods as possible . . . for taste and for health. I'm also an ingredient-label reader . . . and many of the ingredients I read on various food labels are really not that healthy for human consumption. There ya go. 

But, before I find myself blogging for hours on-end about the importance of scrutinizing what one feeds their body, along with the ick and yuck regarding exactly what is in processed food, I should probably segue into the actual topic of this particular blog post.

Y'all are welcomed.
:)

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The other day, I mentioned red beans & rice in one of my Facebook posts, and was later asked to share my recipe.

So, Erin, this is especially for you.  I hope you like it!

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Red Beans, Sausage & Rice

Ingredients are listed in order that they will be used.

Ingredients
1 lb. dried red beans
1 lb. smoked sausage (sliced in half lengthwise, and then each half sliced in pieces)
1 tablespoon canola oil (or butter, or bacon grease)
3-4 cloves garlic (minced)
6 cups of chicken stock or water (more, if needed)
3-4 stalks of celery (finely chopped)
1-2 green bell peppers (finely chopped, with the core removed)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon pepper (white pepper, if you have it)
1/2 - 1 tablespoon onion powder
Cayenne pepper (based on heat preference)
4 cups cooked rice
1/2 - 1 cup of sliced scallions or chopped onions or (raw)

Directions
Sort through dry beans and remove whatever doesn't belong (weird beans, pebbles, etc.) 
Rinse beans well to remove any dirt.
Soak the beans in cold water for at least 8 hours.
Drain and rinse.

In a large stock pot, heat the fat (canola oil, butter or bacon grease) and slightly brown the sausage.
Add the garlic and simmer for a few minutes.

Add chicken stock, celery, bell peppers, salt, pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper.
Stir, and cook until gently boiling.

Add drained and soaked red beans.

Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for at least 2 - 2.5 hours, stirring as needed.  If additional liquid is required, add more chicken stock or water, 1/2 cup at a time.  Cook beans longer, if necessary, always making sure there's enough liquid in the pot.

Serve over cooked rice and top with sliced raw scallions or  chopped raw onion.

Enjoy!


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Thanks for reading; y'all be blessed,
Sharmie