Red beans and rice

I definitely should have picked a better day to do this.

But yesterday I set two cups of red beans to soak. Drained them this afternoon, and filled the pot with water to cover them by an inch or so, and simmered them for an hour and a half. Then I added 1 1/2 cups of brown rice, put on the lid, and let it simmer another 45. (I had to check the water throughout to make sure the rice wasn't absorbing too much.

Then I peeled a cup of garlic cloves. Actually, probably 1.25 cups. I sliced it up a bit, but I wasn't trying to chop it, I was just making sure that they'd all been broken up a bit so they'd lend their flavor to the rest of the stuff.

I put them in a cast iron frying pan and covered the bottom of the pan with olive oil. This is a good bit of olive oil; skimping on the olive oil would diminish the flavor of the end result, and I doubt it would be any healthier for having less fat. Olive oil is one of the best fats you can eat.

Then I chopped up two large onions; they were chopped pretty coarsly, so each piece of onion is about as big as a small french fry.

The onions get fried with the garlic until the onions are thoroughly wimpified. (Soft, and having lost their bite. I'm sure there's a technical term for this, but I don't care.)

Then I'm adding 12 oz of andouille sausage, mixing it all together in a huge casserole dish (or, in my case, two smaller ones), adding enough creole seasoning (yes, I use a pre-mixed blend) to make it mildly hot. Spicy and flavorful is *much* better than hot for this dish, IMHO.

Then into the oven, for about an hour, but if you keep it from drying out, you can keep it in longer without any problems.

And then, alas, I put it in the refrigerator and go to bed. It's been a long day while I'm fighting the last bits of illness.

Red beans and rice

I definitely should have picked a better day to do this.

But yesterday I set two cups of red beans to soak. Drained them this afternoon, and filled the pot with water to cover them by an inch or so, and simmered them for an hour and a half. Then I added 1 1/2 cups of brown rice, put on the lid, and let it simmer another 45. (I had to check the water throughout to make sure the rice wasn't absorbing too much.

Then I peeled a cup of garlic cloves. Actually, probably 1.25 cups. I sliced it up a bit, but I wasn't trying to chop it, I was just making sure that they'd all been broken up a bit so they'd lend their flavor to the rest of the stuff.

I put them in a cast iron frying pan and covered the bottom of the pan with olive oil. This is a good bit of olive oil; skimping on the olive oil would diminish the flavor of the end result, and I doubt it would be any healthier for having less fat. Olive oil is one of the best fats you can eat.

Then I chopped up two large onions; they were chopped pretty coarsly, so each piece of onion is about as big as a small french fry.

The onions get fried with the garlic until the onions are thoroughly wimpified. (Soft, and having lost their bite. I'm sure there's a technical term for this, but I don't care.)

Then I'm adding 12 oz of andouille sausage, mixing it all together in a huge casserole dish (or, in my case, two smaller ones), adding enough creole seasoning (yes, I use a pre-mixed blend) to make it mildly hot. Spicy and flavorful is *much* better than hot for this dish, IMHO.

Then into the oven, for about an hour, but if you keep it from drying out, you can keep it in longer without any problems.

And then, alas, I put it in the refrigerator and go to bed. It's been a long day while I'm fighting the last bits of illness.