Pableaux’s Monday Night Red Beans And Rice

30 minutes prep + bean soaking time (4 hours to overnight) 2 hours active cooking 2 hours + 30 minutes total

Makes 10-12 servings

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New Orleans food writer, photographer and extraordinary home cook Pableaux Johnson made red beans and rice for friends and strangers every Monday. He fed literally thousands of people, 8 to 10 at a time and never the same group twice, around the kitchen table he inherited from his grandmother.

"The dish’s deep flavors come from a simple technique: browning.

Allow the sausage and onion a little extra cooking time in the pan to create a warm brown hue. You’ll be amply rewarded with a tastier bowl of beans! Want to go meatless? Leave out the sausage and start with the onion sauté, and brown the aromatics a few minutes longer."

~ Pableaux Johnson

What You'll Need

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil*
1 pound smoked sausage, preferably andouille, sliced into coins
2 onions, chopped
Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning**, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced
1 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 pound red kidney beans, soaked
1 tablespoon dried basil
Pinch dried sage
3 bay leaves
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, minced
Crystal Hot Sauce, to taste
Cooked rice, to serve
*Pableaux sometimes used vegetable oil, but Jim kept him supplied with good olive oil and it makes the red beans taste better;
**or your favorite Cajun/Creole seasoning, or just red pepper

Equipment

Large heavy pot
Paper towels
Potato masher
Measuring spoons

What you'll have to do

Step 1

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large heavy pot. Brown the sausage, stirring frequently, to render as much fat as possible. When well browned, remove sausage from the pot and drain on paper towels (Jim doesn’t drain the sausages because the fat makes the beans taste even better).

Step 2

Add onions to the same pot and season with lots of Tony’s, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until well browned. Add garlic and cook for 5 to 10 minutes; add celery and bell pepper and cook until translucent.

Step 3

Drain the soaked beans and add them to the pot. Cover with fresh water. Rub the basil between the palms of your hands as you add it to the pot. Add sage and bay leaves. Add sausage back to the pot and stir well.

Step 4

Bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours. When beans are tender, mash some with a potato masher until the mixture looks creamy.

Step 5

Stir in the chopped green onions and almost all of the parsley, reserving some parsley for diners to add at the table. Season to taste with Crystal Hot Sauce.