Ingredients:
- 1 (1-pound) package Camellia Brand Red Kidney Beans
- 1 (32-ounce) container no-sodium chicken broth
- Water, as needed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 1-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound of tasso, smoked ham, or pickled pork or a large ham hock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Hot sauce to taste
- Creole seasoning to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 6 cups white or brown rice, cooked
Directions:
- Rinse and sort beans. (Optional: Soak beans using your preferred method.)
- Place beans in a large stew pot and cover with chicken broth. If needed, add fresh water so that mixture is a ratio of 1 part beans to 2 parts liquid.
- Bring the beans to a rolling boil, then lower heat, and simmer for 1-2 hours, or until tender. Stir often, (so that beans don’t stick to bottom of pot) and add water as needed.
- Brown the meat in a skillet. Remove meat and set aside. In the drippings in skillet, sauté onions, celery, parsley and bell pepper until tender. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add meat, sautéed vegetables, bay leaf and thyme to the beans. Water should cover all.
- Continue to simmer for 1-3 hours, until beans are tender and creamy (continue to stir and avoid burning on bottom of pot).
- To make creamier beans, remove 2 or 3 cups of beans from the pot, puree them with a mixer or blender, and return to pot. Add hot sauce, salt, pepper and/or Creole seasoning to taste.
- Serve over rice.
View Comments (13)
When sorting the red beans, I have a problem determining what I am looking for other than foreign objects. Floating beans or split beans seem to be the ones my momma picked out but that was long ago. What is best?
Frances, Leave the split and floating beans, they break down and make the thick gravy in the red beans
You're just looking for foreign objects like small pea size pieces of dirt or a stone. Yes, really. The floating beans or split beans are no problem, they just cook down. And as the beans become tender you take that large cooking spoon and mash some against the side of the pot to make them creamy you'll never know which ones were which. Enjoy!!!
You are rising them? Right?
What is your choice of meat and why? If you use ham hocks, how do you prepare them and how many do you need?
You want authentic flavor, use tasso. Google up some recipes; it's not hard to make, but you can also find ready-made for delivery as well.
Can I use reduced sodium chicken broth..that's all I have
Yes
Why leave the lid off when cooking?
JBMW......Just buy the pack of two smoked ham hocks and throw em in......I add 1/4-1/2 lb of Tasso and the same with smoked Cajun Sausage.....(Sometimes I buy a smoked shank.
I'm doing it today. Now
Thanks for helpful hint...liquid smoke.....
I tried adding a ham hock for the first time. It made my beans turn dark. Is this normal?