It’s no secret that I LURVE red beans and rice. But only mine. LOL! I’m far too critical of other people’s red beans and rice so I don’t even try them. I know…bad Mingo…BAD! But my beans are pretty dang delish. If you’ve ever had them… you know this for sure.
Here is my recipe for each pound of beans you’re cooking:
1 lb Camellia Brand Red Kidney Beans
1 ham bone or 1 lb ham hocks (This is why you save the bone with the difficult to cut meat on it from the Christmas ham…just wrap it good in foil and put in a ziploc freezer bag! When I don’t have one I use ham hocks.)
1 – 2 lbs sausage (sliced and browned)
1 yellow onion
1 bell pepper
5 stalks of celery
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of thyme
9 cups of chicken broth (I use Herbox chicken granules)
(Rinse and sort beans and then START SOAKING IN WATER THE MORNING BEFORE THE DAY YOU COOK THEM! The gas needs to expel.)
I season the beans while they are soaking in the water.
Salt and pepper (black and cayenne) to taste *NOTE! I DON’T PUT IN SALT UNTIL THE VERY END AS YOU NEVER KNOW HOW SALTY THE HAM HOCK WILL BE! WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR LAST “TASTE” ADJUST SALT THEN…YOU PROBABLY WON’T NEED ANY!
In olive oil, saute diced onion, celery, garlic and bell pepper for about 10 minutes. Add thyme, bay leaves, black and cayenne pepper.
Add beans, broth, and ham hocks/bone, and bring to a boil, uncovered.
Add sausage. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. YES…I SAID TWO HOURS! The best cooking is done slooooooooooooooow!
After two hours, remove ham bone and put on plate. Then, scoop out about 1/2 cup of beans and mash them up. Carve meat off bone into bite sized pieces. Put meat ONLY back in pot. Taste and adjust seasonings. Bring to another low boil and stir mashed beans in well making sure they don’t stick to bottom of pot. Lower temperature and simmer on low, covered, for 20 minutes. This makes the beans creamy.
Serve over brown rice. Oh yeah…they will be muuuuuuuuuuch better tomorrow! LOL!
P.S. For non-pork eaters…I guess you can use smoked turkey…but I wouldn’t know cuz I use pork…the pig ain’t never done nuttin to me! I eat it “from the rooter to the tooter!”
Monica Mingo is a filmmaker, author, and enthusiastic advocate for living life to the fullest. You can read more about her on her blog, That Gumbo Life.
View Comments (13)
OMG...I think I have found "the recipe"...I can't wait my mouth is watering! I've been told if you soak the beans in with some baking soda it removes the gassiness. How do I print this recipe???
Hi Nadiam57,
You can right click and print the entire page from your browser, and for recipes in the RECIPES section, we have a 'Print Recipe' option that will open up a text-only window you can print from.
I know that trick but it prints 11 pages and the instructions are throughout...just would be nice for full recipe to be on one page. Thank you.
I have never tried to soak them in baking soda. I soak them until I see white fluffy stuff on the water. Seems to work pretty well for me! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Yes! The baking soda helps with the gassiness.
I have found the secret for "No Gas Beans" you only cook 239 Beans.
if you cook any more than 239 they will be to forty.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I always soak overnight in seasoned water too. Must be a Port Allen thang!
My in laws use a meat called "pickle tip". I live in North Mississippi right outside of Memphis Tennessee. I have never heard of this kind of meat called 'pickle tip'.. Can you give me more information in this kind of meat.. Is it known by another name? And have you ever used this type of meat in your beans?
More like ham with a turky neck texture but better flavor then both.. new orleans uses it also dont worry
I'm planning to cook 2 lbs dried beans. I don't recall if I am supposed to double all the ingredients, green pepper, celery, onion, etc. Can you help me on this one? Thanks!
That sounds right to me...this is a great recipe too.
I cook my beans almost exactly as you do Ms. Mingo and they come out good. Something else I add is a little 1 inch pad of real butter. Everyone wants to know why my beans taste so good, and I tell them I don't know. But I never tell them about the butter. Thank you for posting and enjoy every day of your life. Most people waste their time. If one doesn't see the sun come up every morning and don't see it go down every evening, well, they have lost most of their lives. I learned that from an old judge who was about 83 when I was only 5 years old.