Must be Monday

Yes, it looks like Monday all up in here. 
Yesterday I was getting excited about Carnival, and in a New Orleans state of mind, so I made red beans and rice.  I used the recipe on the back of the Camellia bag, then doctored it up a bit.  Because I didn't soak the beans overnight, they had to cook for a long time, but that's ok.  I had my favorite New Orleans radio station on (WWOZ, which you can listen to even if you're far from New Orleans - just download the app from their website), and my house smelled and sounded like Louisiana for the whole afternoon.

The recipe calls for celery, garlic, onion, a bay leaf, beans, and meat.  I used Conecuh sausage, which is made right here in Alabama, in Conecuh county, which is not that far from me.  It is so good and addictive that I hope you have access to it wherever you are, and that you buy and enjoy some as soon as possible.  It is a smoked pork sausage that just has this amazing flavor; cooked on the grill, it's heavenly, but it's also really good browned in a pan on the stove, or even in the oven, especially if you sprinkle a bit of brown sugar and dried mustard on top.  But I digress.

The beans are super easy to make.  I do recommend soaking them the night before - I don't mind the longer cooking time for uncooked beans, as it's kind of nice to have something bubbling away all afternoon.  But the longer you cook them, the more your house will smell of boiled onions the next day.  Nothing terrible - light a candle or make some coffee, and it's gone, but still.  Anyway, I did not soak my beans, so I started them at lunchtime. 

I just browned a half-pound of sausage, took it out of the pan, and then sauteed a stalk of celery, one small chopped onion, a chopped bell pepper, and a minced clove of garlic in the pork fat that was left in the pan.  Then I put the bag of beans, 4 cups of water, and 2 cups of chicken stock in a big pot, added the sauteed onion/celery/garlic, and a bay leaf, some pepper, and a few shakes of cayenne.  And cooked the beans, simmering gently, all afternoon.  At some point I doctored things up with a little cumin, Chachere's seasoning, Sriracha, dried English mustard, salt, a touch of brown sugar, and some mirin.  Yes, I said Sriracha, English mustard, and mirin.  Purists may be horrified.  But those purists weren't at my house when I ladled those beans over hot basmati rice.  I tasted the beans when they were super hot - burned my mouth but even as I could feel a blister forming on my lip, I was thinking oh my lord, this is so good I can hardly stand it, and it is totally worth the blister I know I'm getting right now.

And here is a link to the Camellia recipe, which so many people use and tweak.  http://www.camelliabrand.com/t-familyrecipes.aspx