My wife lived in New Orleans for most of her life and when I met her she made this for me for our first dinner together.
She told me that the dish was a staple in New Orleans on Mondays because of the folks doing laundry or something like that, but we are going to do it to celebrate the New Orleans Saints 9-0 record!!
1lb of dried kidney beans
a 12-16oz package of diced frozen bell pepper
a large onion diced
dried parsley
3 cloves of garlic crushed/diced
salt (to taste)
liquid smoke (about a tablespoon and optional)
2 bay leaves
16oz package of smoked sausage sliced into 1/4" rounds.
cooked rice
In a large pot rinse the beans and cover with water (about 8 cups).
Add the peppers, onion, garlic, liquid smoke, bay leaves.
Then sprinkle the parsley flakes until you cover the entire top of the water and other ingredients with a good coat of them. (I know this isnt rocket science but it works LOL)
Bring to a boil and turn down to a slow simmer and cook the beans until they turn soft about an hour to an hour and a half. Add the sausage and salt to taste. Cook till the beans get good and mushy done. You will have to add water as you go so check them every once in a while. Usually we cook ours around 3 hours or so that might help you figure out when they are done.
Cook your rice and plop a big spoonful or two on a plate and take the Red Beans and smother the rice. Find a good hard French Bread heat it up and you are in like Flint!!!
My wife said this very recipe has been handed down by her neighbors family since the Civil War and the only thing that is changed is the Liquid smoke and I did that when I tweaked it to fit my taste.
Oh yeah a bottle of Tabasco is handy to have when you eat this!!:mrgreen:
Billy