Red Beans and Rice

A friend a few years ago served us red beans and rice for supper. To know me is to know I love me some beans and rice. So she told us how to make it, and I forgot, then decided to venture on my own. I make great red beans and rice now. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• If you have a big crock pot, 2 bags of red kidney beans.  If you have a small crock pot 1.
• If you have a big crock pot, a ham hock.  Ham bone will do.
• Enough Andouille sausage
• A green bell pepper
• Enough onions
• Enough green onions (yes, white and green)
• Enough cayenne pepper (if you have kids, a tiny bit is enough)
• Enough Tony Cachere's Original Creole Seasoning
• Rice

Preparation

Soak the beans in water overnight.  While the beans soak, cut the sausage into bite-size chunks.  Dice the white onion.  Slice the green onion all the way up the stalk - use the whole thing.  Seed and dice the green bell pepper.

The following morning, drain the beans.  Put the ham hock in your crock pot.  Add the beans, sausage, pepper, onion, green onions, cayenne, and Tony's.  Add enough water to just cover everything - some beans will still float, so depending on the size of the ham hock, that might be your gauge.  Heat on low heat for what will seem an eternity - 8-10 hours, depending on when you got everything ready.  When the time is up, smash up some of the beans and stir back in to thicken the broth.

Cook up some rice in your rice cooker.  Add some additional green onion as a garnish, and if you have kids, you only put a teeny bit of cayenne in, so add some Tabasco or Frank's.

Notes

Notice I give very precise measurements.  "Enough" means exactly that - no less than enough, no more than enough. With this, since you can't really taste as you go, you're safer to deal with what seems to be a bunch of Tony's - get a good layer on top of the crock pot with it, and what seems to be a pinch of cayenne. Cayenne is very hot, and a very little bit goes a very long way.