Red Beans and Rice Recipes

Hi everyone,

I wish I could just put Emeril’s recipes on this blog, but because of copyright restrictions I can only post the links to his recipes. They look delicious! Lots of flavor, but not too spicy. Both recipes have a lot of meat. The first link is to Emeril’s website, the second link is to the food network’s website.

Link to Emeril’s Red Beans and Rice Recipe on Emerils.com

Link to Emeril’s Red Beans and Rice Recipe on the foodnetwork.com

Remember me saying there are many recipes, and even individual cooks have multiple recipes for red beans and rice? Here’s a prime example. These two recipes are different enough from each other to produce two subtly different, and I’m sure, equally mouthwatering dishes.

I’m going to try these recipes soon. I don’t have all the ingredients to make them exactly as published, so it will have to wait for a trip to the grocery store.

If you try one before I do, please leave me a comment with the recipe you tried and let us all know how you liked it.

Chef Lou is the Ozarks Cooking Columnist for News-Leader.com of Springfield, MO

This recipe looks really spicy! It has Tabasco sauce, crushed red pepper and Tony Chachere’s.

Serves 8

• 2 thick slices of salt pork
• 1 cup red bell pepper, small dice
• 1 cup green bell pepper, small dice
• 1 cup onion small dice
• 1 pound smoked sausage
• 3 cans red beans, with liquid
• 1 cup diced tomato
• 1 cup tomato juice
• 1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Original (creole) Seasoningor blackening powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt and black pepper to taste

Sauté the salt pork in a large skillet to render out the fat, then remove the salt pork. (You want about 1/4 cup of rendered grease.)

Add the vegetables and sauté in the rendered fat until tender.

Add the sausage and cook on medium high for about five minutes. Toss in the tomato and the canned beans.

Add all of the spices and seasonings.

Simmer for about 15 minutes.

Serve over plain white rice.

Source:
Spice up red beans and rice with fresh additions

by Chef Lou Rice, Ozarks Cooking

Note: if you substitute dry red beans for canned red beans, remember to sort, rinse and soak them, and cook them for 4 or more hours until very tender.

In short, no.

Red beans are not the same variety as red kidney beans. They are smaller and have a smoother taste and texture than their kidney bean cousins. They are the most popular in the Caribbean region, where south Louisiana got it’s passion for red beans and rice.

This also demonstrates that the differences between Creole and Cajun are no longer widely recognized. Red beans are the beans originally used in the Creole or New Orleans recipes that originated in the Caribbean. Red kidney beans are just another type of dry bean Cajuns ate as a staple food along with rice.

Today, however, red beans and red kidney beans are used interchangeably in recipes for red beans and rice. I use red beans when they’re available. Otherwise I use red kidney beans.

Red Beans            Red Kidney Beans

References:
http://www.beans4health.com/dictionary.html