Enjoy the signature dish of the Big Easy right in your own home.
Photo by Gina Moore
SERVES 6
1 pound dry kidney or small red beans
2 large ham hocks
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
4 cups water (or combination of water and chicken stock)
1½ cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped bell pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Cajun or Creole seasoning
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce (optional)
Cooked rice
Sort through beans to discard any rocks, debris and damaged beans. Place dried beans in a large bowl and cover them with cold water. Let soak for 8 hours or overnight. (See additional quick-soak tip below.) Drain and set aside.
Place beans, ham hocks, garlic, onion and water or stock in a large (8-quart) pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 1½ hours or until beans and ham hocks are tender.
Remove ham hocks from the pot to a dish. Let cool slightly then shred the meat away from the bones. Return the meat back to the pot. Add the celery, bell peppers, Worcestershire and seasoning. Add additional water or stock if needed. Cover and cook for another hour or until the mixture gets thick. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce. Serve over or with rice.
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Chef’s tips
Quick-soak method for dried beans. You don’t have to soak dried beans overnight anymore. Sort through beans to discard any rocks, debris and damaged beans. Add beans to a large saucepan and cover with cold water two inches over beans. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Turn off heat, cover pan and let sit for 1 hour. Drain beans and continue with recipe instructions. You can also strain and reserve the bean water, and add it to the actual cooking water of the beans for additional flavor.
Scoville scale of peppers. The Scoville scale measures the “heat” in chili peppers. When recipes call for chiles, it is important to understand what to expect. Serrano peppers have roughly five times more heat than jalapenos. Jalapenos, seeded and added to recipes, are not as hot as you might think. In fact, sometimes the addition is not noticeable. If heat is a concern to you, start with jalapenos and move up to serranos as you continue to experiment with the recipe. Remember, once you remove the seeds and the membrane (the white ribs inside the peppers) the heat is diminished significantly.
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