Red Beans & Rice- How to Cook Everything

"Even Babe Ruth strikes out sometimes".....

That's what Shawn said when all was said and done. I have to say that this was my biggest disappointment so far. It took a lot of time and preparation and the end result wasn't at all what I had hoped for.

I'll start at the beginning by letting you know that I am severely challenged when it comes to cooking rice. I wish I could blame it on something else, like my pans or my stove, but it's always been this way. It comes out too watery, too underdone, too overdone.... I could follow the recipe to a T and it never works. Even rice a roni. It's pretty bad. So, I was hoping that with my new endeavors that I would be able to overcome this problem. Not so much.

The recipe started out the night before the Superbowl. We were in the midst of a snowstorm and I was a cooking fool. I got out my trusty HTCE cookbook, which actually breaks this down into two recipes- Red Beans with Meat that you later include in the Red Beans and Rice recipe. The thing that made me choose this over others is that I could use the pork bone I had in the freezer from my roast pork and the chicken andouille sausage I keep on hand for jambalaya. It also requires the use of coconut milk, which really intrigued me.

My first mistake was that the since the recipe didn't mention to soak my beans overnight I did not take this step. It resulted in my beans never really getting soft enough. I rinsed and picked over the beans, then put them in a pot with water & the pork bone. While this simmered, I sauteed the sausage and added the onions, peppers, & garlic to the fat. When it was soft, I added back the sausage, then added the spices and tomatoes. Chopped the pork left on the bone and added it to the mix. Then I mixed it all together and cooked until beans are soft. I thought they were soft enough, since I cooked well beyond the time required, but not so much.

I'll take this moment to offer a great tip that I love to use when cooking with a lot of ingredients. You know those little white coffee filters that come in a big pack for $1? I love these!!!! I use them to hold my garlic, spices, whatever items I have prepped and toss them when I'm done. So quick and easy.

The next day, I reheated the mixture on the stove and then added the rice and coconut milk and cooked on low until the rice was tender. Of course, when the requested 20 minutes had completed the rice was no where near cooked. I cooked it for probably another 20 minutes until it was ready and even then it had a risotto consistancy that would have been nice if it was risotto, but not so much in this case. The meat and flavor was fantastic, but between the firmer texture of the beans and the rice, it was not something we wanted to finish. Thankfully, it was the superbowl and there were other things to eat, but I felt like I had wasted a lot of time and food on this recipe.

I guess that after all of the great results that I've accomplished one bad dish isn't so bad....

Red Beans with Meat- How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Makes 6-8 servings

2 cups kidney, pinto, or other beans, washed and picked over
1 or 2 meaty smoked ham hock, 1 chunk of bacon, or salt pork, or 1 meaty ham or pork bone.
1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage or spicy Cajun sausage
1 large onion
1 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, & chopped
1 Tbsp minced garlic
4-5 springs thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 c chopped tomatoes (canned are fine)
salt & pepper to taste

1. Place beans in a large pot with water to cover. Turn to high and bring to boil; skim foam if necessary. Add ham hock and turn heat to simmer. Cover loosely and stir very occasionally; add extra water if needed
2. Place sausage in skillet and turn heat to medium. Cook, turning occasionally, and pricking sausage a few times to release it's fat. When they are browned, remove; don't worry about it being done. Cut into small chunks.
3. Cook onions, pepper, and garlic in fat, stirring frequently, until peppers are softened, about 10 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. Return sausage to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until chunks are browned all over. Return veggies to the pan, along with thyme, bay leaves, allspice, and tomatoes. Turn to med-low and cook, stirring, until tomatoes break up, 10- 15 minutes.
4. When meat in beans is soft, remove. When cool, chop all the meat and return to the pot, along with sausage & vegetable mixture. Cook, until the beans are very tender. Remove and discard bay leaves. Taste & add S&P to taste.

Red Beans and Rice- How to Cook Everything; Mark Bittman

3 cups Red Beans with Meat
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
3 cups canned or fresh coconut milk, warmed
salt & pepper, to taste
minced parsley, for garnish

1. Place beans in a saucepan that can hold at least double their bulk comfortably. Turn heat to med-low and warm gently. If there is a great deal of liquid in the beans, cook them, stirring frequently, until they are moist but not swimming in liquid
2. Add the rice & coconut milk to the beans. Cover & turn heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed. If necessary, uncover & raise heat to med-high; cook, stirring, until liquid is absorbed. Season with S&P.