OT - Red Beans and Rice

RhumAndJerk

With the weather turning here in Ohio, so is my family menu. My cooking thoughts are turning to more substantial meals. Red Beans and Rice popped into my head on Saturday. By the time that I made it to the West Side Market, my Sausage vendor was out of Andouili and Taso ham. For those of you at Eggtoberfest, you understand my disappointment. I already had the beans soaking, so I was making this dish. I decided that I could get a nice Ham Hock from the Apple Smoked Meat Vendor and I was fretting about the sausage. I ended up at Dohar Meats the purveyor of the fine paprika that many of you have and they had a double smoked spicy Kolbasz that was very close to a Cajun Andoulli.[p]By the time I got home and got the dish put together on the stove, it was 4:15. I went outside to fire up my Medium. I place a chunk of hickory and red oak on the fire and place the cast iron Dutch Oven on an upturned platesetter. The egg was at around 200 when I put beans on. I let the temp slowly rise to 350.[p]By 7:30, everything was ready to eat and pulled the ham hock out, cleaned the meat off the bone and returned the ham to pot.[p]I know I probably post about making this every time that I cook it, but it is simply that good. Give it a try. BTW, skip the cumin.[p]Enjoy,
RhumAndJerk

[ul][li]Louisiana Red Beans and Rice[/ul]

Cajun

RhumAndJerk,[p]I agree with you on the change of menu with the cooler weather. This weekend, got a chicken, smoked it, got some sausage, smoked 'em, cut up the Cajun Holy Trinity (Bell Pepper, Celery, Onion) threw them in a pot with some rouge (sp?) and make a huge pot of gumbo. [p]3/4 of it went into the freezer for later.[p]This turned out to be a pretty good batch.[p]Later[p]Cajun

Eggecutioner

RhumAndJerk,[p]Why skip the Cumin? Do you not like the taste or does it make the texture bad?[p]E

RhumAndJerk

Cajun,
Next time you are in the area, make sure you get to the Market to try some the Andouli and Taso that we get... Very good stuff.
R&J

RhumAndJerk

Eggecutioner,
Cumin, to me, is a flavor that I associate more with Mexican or Indian cooking. Since I was not making chili or dal, I did not want to confuse the flavors.
I could be wrong.
R&J

Chef Wil

RhumAndJerk,
recipe looks good. If you really like this dish next time try chicken broth instead of water. When your beans are really tender pull about 2 cups of the beans and blend em smooth and pour back in the pot. This will give you a smoother gravy and clings to the rice a little better.
Just my 2pennies worth. Leave out the cumin.

PeterInSeattle

RhumAndJerk,
My wife and I did tried your recipe a few weeks ago after hearing a story about New Orleans that mentioned rb&r which whetted my appetite. We used a very good local version of andouille along with two smoked ham hocks. Dish was fantastic. Thanks for posting the recipe.