Posted at http://mynew30.blogspot.com/
1 pound of dried, Camellia brand red kidney beans
1/2 pound of bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large stalk of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
About 10 turns of the pepper mill
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste, optional
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 bay leaves
1 package (14 oz.) Hillshire Farms beef smoked sausage or andouille sausage
OR Ham bone and ham chunks if ya got any
OR any combination of both
2 quarts of water
1/2 stick Land O' Lakes unsalted butter, optional
Salt to taste, if needed – BUT ONLY AT THE END!
Hot, cooked rice
Rinse and sort beans and place into a deep pot, adding water to cover beans plus about an inch or so. Do not add any seasonings or salt! Bring to a boil; boil for 5 minutes uncovered, turn off heat, cover and let soak for one hour. Drain and set aside in a large pot.
In a separate skillet, cook the bacon until lightly browned but not crisp, remove and set aside. Add the onion, bell pepper, and celery to the bacon drippings and sauté the veggies until tender. Add the garlic, black and red pepper, basil and bay leaf into the vegetable mixture and let seasoning meld with the veggies for about 3 minutes, stirring. Add the veggie & seasoning mixture to the pot of beans. Meanwhile slice sausage in half lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch chunks; add to the pot. If you have any leftover ham chunks, cut those up too and add them in. Return bacon to the pot.
Add 2 quarts of fresh water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cooked uncovered for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until beans are tender and slightly thickened.
When beans are just about done, slide in a half stick of butter. The butter adds richness to the beans and makes them just super delish, but is totally optional if you want to leave it out. They are good without it. If you need to thicken them up more, just remove about a cup of the beans and mash them with a fork, returning them to the pot.
Do not add any salt until the end, and then only if it needs it. There is some salt present from all the meats involved, so taste and adjust your seasonings toward the end of cooking, adding salt here if needed. I very often find that the pot needs no additional salt at all. Taste, add salt if needed, taste again and adjust seasoning as needed.
Scoop beans over hot, cooked rice and serve with hot buttered yeast rolls or better yet, a big honking slice of hot buttered southern style skillet cornbread - cooked in a greased up screamin' hot cast iron skillet, so the bottom is all full of crunchy yumminess. I'm telling ya, this is some delicious goodness. Enjoy!
