Red Beans and Rice

I found a crock pot at the recycling center back in December. It seemed to be in good working order, so I brought it home, gave it a rinse, turned it on and it worked! (My parents would be so very proud to hear that their frugal ways have been passed on.)

I couldn't decided on what to make first: baked beans, Indian pudding, pot roast or stew. But then I found the pound of red beans I brought back from New Orleans and decided that it was time to attempt red beans and rice.

Working off of this recipe I soaked the beans overnight, then par boiled them for 1 hour while sauteing the veggies (carrots, onion, celery) in bacon fat. I drained the beans, added them to the crock pot with the veggies, along with some cracked black pepper, 3 bay leaves and a few more slices of bacon. I covered the whole thing with new, cold water and let it cook... for 24 hours.

I came home, turned on the rice cooker and worked on reducing down the beans a bit (I put in too much water because I worried that too much would be lost to evaporation). I pulled off about 1 1/2 cups of the excess liquid, put it in a skillet and started to reduce it. Once it got more creamy, I added in cleaned and chopped collards, reduced to a simmer and covered. Once the collards were about half done, I added sliced chorizo. (Andouille is traditional, but I couldn't find any.)

While the sausage and collards were cooking I added salt, to taste, to the beans. Once the rice and collards were done, it was time to eat. Served it with hot sauce on the side and it was awesome!