Red beans and rice

I thought I would repost my recipe for Red Beans and Rice. It is so good! First you start a big stock pot with 6 cups chicken broth. If I do not have broth I use bouillon cubes in the water to make the broth. I always keep them on hand. Let this begin to boil while you cook the onions. In a cast iron skillet saute an onion in 1 Tbsp bacon grease. When the onions are cooked add them to the chicken broth in the stock pot. Add 3 bay leaves, 2 pinches Cayenne pepper, and 1 Tbsp minced garlic to the stock pot.

Add an additional Tbsp bacon grease to the skillet and cook 1 lb of cubed smoke sausage. I always use Hillshire Farm. Let the sausage cook until it is browned. With a spatula remove sausage to a bowl and set aside, reserving as much of the grease in the skillet as you can.

Add about 1/2 cup of the liquid from the pot into the skillet and deglaze the pan. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the skillet. Add additional broth as needed to have enough liquid to get up all the pan juices. Do NOT skip this step, this is where all your good flavor is! Pour all the liquid into your stock pot. Once the chicken broth comes to a boil add 1 lb of red beans to the pot. I always buy dry beans and soak them the night before. Do not put the sausage in at this point, refrigerate until later.

Let all this come back to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer for
1 1/2 hours with the lid on, then 1/2 hour with the lid off. Start your rice cooking in another pot. Remove 3/4 cup of beans from the pot and mash with the back of the spoon against the bowl. Put mashed beans and sausage that you cooked earlier into the pot and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Serve over a bowl of rice.

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Blessed with Grace

Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlham