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

Thanks!

Sounds good! I bet it would adapt to a crock pot, too.

sounds good.

Lately we have just been buying the packages of Mathatma "Red Beans and Rice" and we love it. I may have to try the "homemade" recipe!!!

Thanks for posting this...redbeans and rice is one of my favorites!!! :D :D :D

Good for the Saints!!! They are in my top "5" 8)

I am a Colts fan but we have to pull for her home team no matter what!!

My house smells so good with them cooking right now. Its hard to believe she has been making this meal for me for the last 25 years and I never can get enough of it.

My son and daughter and their friends are over here watching football like we always do every Sunday and they keep running to the kitchen checking the pot every few minutes wanting to dig into them!! My poor wife..........LOL she is getting tired of chasing them out of the kitchen.

So tonite my family (plus 6 kids) will be celebrating the Saints win by eating our Red Beans and Rice while my daughter, her boyfriend and I are cheering for the Colts as we take on New England. :D

Billy

I was in New Orleans for a month this summer and fell in love with the food. Thankd for posting this. When the snow starts flying here this winter i can still enjoy my vacation.

Billy,
Your house sounds like mine--we are Drew Brees fans (GO PURDUE!) and my kids grew up in Indiana so the Colts are their team.

Your recipe sounds fabulous--maybe next game we'll try it. THanks for posting it.

Rice and crockpots don't go together very well. I don't think I could ever learn how to cook rice in a crockpot, since it only take less than 25 minutes to cook on top the stove.
In the South it seems you are born knowing how to cook rice.
I will use this recipe for tomorrow night's supper.
Thanks for sharing the recipe

Thank you so much. I, too, am a native of New Orleans and can hardly wait to try your wife's version. It sounds great. Here's what my folks in New Orleans (the Big Easy) say: Geaux Saints!!!! All the way!!! :lol: