DAVID'S LOUISIANA RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• 1. This recipe to me is best when using dry red kidney beans. Yes you can use canned but then the finished dish tastes of tin. SOOO, the night before you're going to make your Red Beans & Rice soak your dry beans in a larger container and make sure you rinse the beans first and remove any stems and such, then fill container with water so there is twice the water to/bean ratio. The next day you will have very little water as the beans have soaked it up. The water will have a reddish color to it, rinse in a colander under cold water and set beans aside.
• 2. Chop all of your meat and aromatics (onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic) just get it all ready for the cooking/browning process. I don't brown the ham hocks if you use them or my ham bone. The purpose of either of these is added flavor and some meat added as well. Also the added wonderful bone marrow adds so much to this dish. You can use whatever meat you want with this dish. I like the mix and each meat brings different levels and depth of flavor to the finished dish. If you want use the sausage. I've written this recipe to how I prefer to make it.
• 3. Brown your meat first by putting about 2 tablespoons of oil in the skillet and bring to a med/high heat. When it's hot enough you will see "dimples" in the oil. Brown all meat as evenly as you can. Do not over stir this. You are wanting the meat to actually get browned. This is very important to the flavor of this dish.
• 4. Next take the pot that you're going to make your final red beans in and make your roux. You want a medium color roux for this like a light brown in color, not as dark as you would make for gumbo. Once the roux is ready add your aromatics and cook until tender. About 5 minutes
• 5. When the aromatics are done add the browned meat to the mix and continue to cook another 5 minutes.
• 6. Add your beans to the mix and enough chicken stock to cover the mixture by about 1 - 2 inches. This is where i add the ham bone or ham hocks
• 7. Add all of your seasonings including the bay leaves and stir, bring to a simmer, lower heat to low and cover. Watch your heat as it can become too hot covered and you will have to put the heat to low. Check and stir from the bottom of the post every 10-15 minutes for an hour. You want a finished thick consistency not watery.
• 8. Make your rice. You want enough rice for each person to have 1/2 cup per serving.
• 9. Place about 1/2 cup of rice in the middle of a bowl and then ladle 1-1/2 cups of red beans and meat over the top. Garnish with chopped green onions or fresh parsley
• 10. Of course if you want you can always shortcut this and get a package mix of red beans and rice but I promise it's not near the same. But if you do pick one that doesn't have a TON of salt. Most do (I like Zatarain's products but they are way too salty. So to do this just follow the directions on the package and add your favorite meat.
• 11. Ah leftovers! This is one of the best dishes as leftovers. It gets better everytime you reheat it. Make sure you add water to the red beans/meat as it heats up. You will need to watch the texture for how much water or stock to add.