doodledee

Here's the recipe for my Super Bowl food of choice. This year they turned out like they do every other time I make them: totally effing mint. Unfortunately, it's not really possible to take a good picture of red bean and rice, so you'll just have to imagine what they look like. (Hint: they look delicious.)

1 pound dried red beans
vegetable oil
1 large onion
1 green pepper
3 stalks of celery
3 large cloves of garlic
6 oz tasso ham, diced
2 big links of andouille sausage, sliced
1 smoked ham hock, sliced into a couple of big chunks
4 c chicken stock (one ‘box')
6 c water
3 bay leaves
thyme
salt
pepper
rice

1. Soak the beans overnight in a bunch of water, drain them and put them aside.
2. Heat a big pot up on the stove with a couple tablespoons of oil in it.
3. Open a beer.
4. Add the tasso and andouille to the pan, cook for a couple minutes, then take them out.
5. Add the ham hock to the pan, cook for a couple minutes, then take it out.
6. Add the onions, celery and pepper to the pan and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook until they're soft, it'll take a few minutes.
7. Add the garlic, cook for a minute or two.
8. Add the tasso and andouille and ham hock back to the pot. Dump in stock and water. Dump in the beans. Season with some thyme and a few bay leaves. If your andouille isn't super hot, maybe add a bit of cayenne.
9. Simmer for 2 hours, uncovered. Stir them a few times during cooking and talk about how good they're looking.
10. Open another beer.
11. Reach down in the pot with a big wooden spoon and smash a bunch of the beans against the side of the pot. I try to get like ¼ of the beans smashed, but I don't really count.
12. Cook maybe another 20 minutes or so, which, coincidentally, is exactly enough time to make some rice. Genius.
13. Serve over rice (with another beer) and maybe some crusty bread.

Notes: Tasso ham is available at Forster's Meats in Plymouth, but call before you go to make sure they'll have some the day you get there (they don't make it very often). They also have good ham hocks and andouille. Wherever you end up getting your hocks, ask the butcher to cut them into thirds for you, they're hard to cut at home unless you have a chainsaw.