Red Beans and Rice: Soul food for any soul under the sun

In a previous life...

I spent about 10 years on the road mixing FOH sound for a Blues/Rock icon. If the term FOH means nothing to you (and it shouldn’t unless you’re in the music industry) don't be sad.   In short, I was what you perceived at the moment to be the incredibly cool and lucky guy sitting in the best seat in the house at the concert wearing a faded Metallica t-shirt, surrounded by lots of NASA looking gear with blinking lights who WILL ignore you if you try to tell him you can’t hear the back up singers to your liking. 

It’s a phenomenally good gig which took me around the world a few times and to every state in the US except Alaska and oh crap, I think that’s the only place in the world we missed. As a crew member working 18–20 hour days (something my current gig coworkers don’t understand about how my current work ethic got tattood onto my DNA). I remember a lot of good times and some less than fun times. But I also remarkably can recall almost every free for the crew meal from every gig, arguably the highlight of any day on the road. It’s uncanny. Ex: The Cabooze, Mn 1989. A choice of overcooked to dry ribs and bland beans or phenomenally bad pizza which my cohort Whit had (with a bartender raving about how they were the best ribs in Minneapolis). har!

What I can recall also was what has become a legend in my mind; the single flat out best meal I ever had.

It was 1990 and Jazz and Heritage in NOLA. Two shows, one for our band and the second subbing for a suddenly sick BB King. Great show, good times in the blues and music capital of the world. I felt like I was on top of the world, getting paid to mix shows at this level.

After the gig I took a walk downtown to wind down. NOLA is great anytime, but at Jazz and Heritage it is just alive with people and about the most interesting city imaginable. I walked alone letting myself wander a bit, not really caring where I ended up. The only downside was the sticky 104 degree heat which was pretty intense, but it was a day off after a good gig, I had no worries, was in no hurry to do anything in particular.

It was damned hot though and after an hour or so of walking I was just sweating through my shirt and feeling a big dogged and about ready to pack it in and head back to the hotel, when what did I spy? A neon sign of a flashing beer mug way down and almost hidden in a shady alley with ivy growing up the brick walls around it. I was sucked down the alley like a moth drawn to a flame and when I got under the sign and stood in front of an open door, I felt the blast of massive AC. Heaven indeed. I walked in and placed myself at the stone and tile bar, ordered two beers (to take out the waiting period between #1 and #2 — planning is important) and ordered some red beans and rice for the strength needed to walk the few miles back to the hotel.

What came in about 10 minutes was the most satisfyingly hot and savory dish I have ever had, bar none. Better than reindeer steaks in Norway, better than sushi in Osaka, better than barbecue in Chicago or 3am Original Ray’s pizza in NY. Simple, pure and aromatic sausage, beans and rice. perfectly cooked. I could taste heat from a few different sources, basil and parsley winding around smoked sausage and soft yet almost crunchy red beans. And the bottle of Jalapeno based hot sauce which was placed within arms reach by the barkeep was like nothing I’d ever had and remains to this day, my main hot sauce for anything — eggs, rice, soups, salsa. Bat’s Brew hot sauce from Baton Rouge.

I have been working on recreating that dish for a few months now, and tonight I got close. It’s not 104 out in Canyon, but it is a bit sticky out in this weird May drizzling rain. Here’s what I did.

Soaked 1.2 lbs of small red beans overnight (I am so virtuous).

Bought a pound of smoked Portuguese sausage cut up into half rounds and fast sautéed them to slightly crisp in a tablespoon of oil.

Adding 3 more tablespoons of oil, I dumped in two finely diced onions and 8 cloves of crushed and minced fresh garlic and tossed them about until they were opaque, not burned in any way.

Next came a large stalk of celery, finely diced and a whole green pepper chopped

Five more minutes of sauté and it smelled like the afterlife.

I then just dumped the whole bean shebang in to the mix, added a tiny bit more water and set it to low simmer for around 2 hours — till the beans hit that soft with a slight bit of crunch (that is the hardest part of this recipe)

Aromatics added just as it comes to a simmer:
a 1/4 teaspoon of Cayenne
a teaspoon of sage and one of dried basil
1.25 teaspoon of black cracked pepper
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
some salt if you swing that way

Got my rice going — long grain with a teaspoon of ginger, cause I like ginger

For the last fifteen minutes of simmering, I pulled about a cup of the beans out and mashed them with my Irish potato tool, placed them back in the pot along with some chopped green onions and a cup of chopped fresh parsley

Omg omg omg such a fine meal. Soul filling for sure. And topped with a blast of Bat’s Brew, though depending on how adventurous you are with the cayenne and red pepper flakes, you may not need the Bats Brew. You can buy it from Panola Pepper company via the Internet tubes. I can’t recommend this strongly enough. Get some and you WILL thank me.

Pass the cornbread pls……And I believe I’ll have another one of those cold IPA’s as well.