Shotgun Red Beans And Rice Recipes

AUTHENTIC LOUISIANA RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Rinse beans, and then soak in a large pot of water overnight.
• In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, bell pepper, garlic, and celery in olive oil for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Rinse beans, and transfer to a large pot with 6 cups water. Stir cooked vegetables into beans. Season with bay leaves, cayenne pepper, thyme, sage, parsley, and Cajun seasoning. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
• Stir sausage into beans, and continue to simmer for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the rice. In a saucepan, bring water and rice to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve beans over steamed white rice.

SHOTGUN RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Day 1: Add enough water to the red beans to cover them by 3 or 4 inches, and soak overnight in the refrigerator.
• As the beans absorb the water; they'll more than double in volume.
• Day 2: Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl.
• Drain the beans and set them aside.
• Preheat a heavy 5-quart pot, preferrably non-stick, over high heat to 350 degrees, about 4 minutes.
• Add 2 CUPS of the onions, the bell peppers, and the celery, and 1 TABLESPOON of the seasoning mix.
• Stir and cook until the vegetables start to turn brown, about 5 minutes.
• Add 1/2 CUP of the stock, scrape the bottom of the pot to clear all the browned bits, and cook 3 minutes.
• Add the REMAINING 1 cup of onions, stir, and cook 5 minutes.
• Add the drained beans, 5 CUPS of the stock, and the REMAINING seasoning mix.
• Stir and cook for 45 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally to check for sticking.
• Add 1 CUP grape juice and continue to cook for 25 minutes.
• CAUTION: At this point, the starches in the beans start to break down and sticking will occur more often.
• It is therefore important to check and clear the bottom of the pan frequently.
• Add the REMAINING stock and grape juice, turn the heat to medium, and cook until the beans are tender, and the liquid is thick and begins to look creamy, about 30 to 35 minutes.
• Serve over the rice.
• NOTES: Red beans with rice is an old traditional New Orleans Monday supper dish.
• Monday used to be wash day, and the story goes that the beans could simmer while the laundry was being done.
• When the wash was finished, so were the beans.
• In the past, in order to make the beans really good, the cook started off with a lot of oil.
• While this recipe eliminates the oil, it still is mouth-watering.
• MAKES ABOUT 7 CUPS, ENOUGH FOR 6 MAIN-DISH SERVINGS.

CHEF JOHN'S RED BEANS AND RICE

Steps:

• Place beans in a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Drain and rinse.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir sausage in hot oil until oils slightly release from sausage and edges brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir onion, celery, and poblano pepper into sausage; cook and stir until vegetables soften and start to turn translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir garlic into sausage mixture; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Stir red beans, chicken broth, ham hock, bay leaves, black pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce into the sausage mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours. Add salt and continue simmering until beans are soft, meat is tender, and desired consistency is reached, 1 1/2 to 2 hours more. Season with salt.
• Spoon rice into bowls, ladle red beans mixture over rice, and top with green onion.

SEKIHAN (RED BEAN STICKY RICE)

Steps:

• The day before (or at least 4 hours before) you make sekihan, cook the beans and soak the rice in the red bean-cooking liquid (through Step 4): In a small saucepan, combine the dried beans and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then cook for 1 minute. Strain the beans, discarding the water.
• Return the beans to the saucepan, add 2 cups water, cover loosely, and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat as needed to simmer the beans for 30 minutes.
• Drain the beans, pouring the rusty-red cooking liquid into a large nonreactive bowl or container. Using a ladle, scoop up the liquid and pour it back into the bowl several times to brighten the color by incorporating air. Transfer beans to a plate to cool; cover with a damp cloth and refrigerate.
• Using a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl, rinse the rice in several changes of cool water, until the water runs almost clear (washing away the bran makes the cooked rice shiny and sticky); drain rice. Add the rice to the reserved bean-cooking liquid, cover, and soak overnight (or at least 4 hours) in a cool place.
• The next day (or at least 4 hours later), steam the rice: You can use a Japanese steamer pot, or a metal or bamboo steamer that fits in a wok or pot. Fill the pot or wok with plenty of water, but not so much that the water will touch the rice. Line the steamer with a piece of cheesecloth or muslin big enough to fold over the rice (about 24 inches). Drain rice, reserving the liquid. Transfer rice to the cloth-lined steamer, and put pre-cooked beans on top. Fold the cloth loosely over the rice and beans, and close the lid.
• Steam over high heat for 10 minutes, then turn off the burner, and open the lid and cloth. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid over the rice. Use the cloth to gently fold the rice over on itself, incorporating the beans, and then shake it back into a somewhat even layer. Replace the cloth and lid; repeat Step 6 two more times (steaming for a total of 30 minutes).
• Turn the heat to high and cook until steam comes out steadily, about 3 minutes, then remove from heat, and leave covered for 10 minutes. Transfer sekihan to a lacquerware box, or other special serving container.
• Heat a frying pan over medium-high, then toast the sesame seeds, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and mix with salt (this is called goma-shio); set aside.
• Serve sekihan at room temperature, with goma-shio for sprinkling on individual portions. Leftovers can be shaped into onigiri (rice balls) and rolled in goma-shio.

RED BEANS AND RICE WITH SMOKED SAUSAGE

Steps:

• 1. Soak beans overnight in cold water. Drain and put the beans in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add fresh water to cover, along with the sausage and ham, onion, garlic, thyme, pepper, sage and cayenne. Bring to boil over medium high heat.
• 2. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer until beans are tender, adding more water if necessary to keep them from drying out. This will take 2 to 3 hours. Add salt to taste. Discard ham bones.
• 3. Remove about 1/4 cup of beans from mixture and mash; return to Dutch oven and stir. Simmer 15 more minutes. Serve over hot rice.