New Orleans Red Beans with Andouille over Rice

What you need

• 450 g (1 lb) dried red kidney beans
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 400 g (14 oz) andouille sausage, sliced into rounds 1 cm (1/2 in) thick
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 smoked ham hock, about 450 g (1 lb)
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp Creole seasoning
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 2 l (8 1/2 cups) water, plus more as needed
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• 400 g (2 cups) long-grain white rice
• 3 scallions, sliced, for serving
• hot sauce, for serving

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Sort through the beans, discard any shrivelled ones, rinse them, cover with cold water by 8 cm (3 in) and leave to soak overnight.

2. 2

   Drain and rinse the soaked beans.

3. 3

   Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the andouille, stirring often, 5-6 min, then lift it out to a plate.

4. 4

   Lower the heat to medium and add the onion, bell pepper and celery to the fat in the pot. Cook, stirring, until soft, 8-10 min.

5. 5

   Stir in the garlic, thyme, Creole seasoning and cayenne and cook for 1 min until fragrant.

6. 6

   Add the beans, ham hock, bay leaves and water and bring to a boil.

7. 7

   Turn the heat down and simmer uncovered, stirring now and then, until the beans are completely soft, 2-2 1/2 hours. Top up with hot water if the beans start to poke above the liquid.

8. 8

   Lift out the ham hock. When it is cool enough to handle, pull the meat off the bone, chop it and discard the skin and bone.

9. 9

   Mash about a quarter of the beans against the side of the pot with a spoon to make the liquid creamy.

10. 10

    Return the andouille and ham hock meat to the pot and simmer for 20-30 min more until thick and creamy.

11. 11

    Meanwhile, rinse the rice, put it in a saucepan with 750 ml (3 cups) water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on the lowest heat until the water is absorbed, 15-18 min, then rest 5 min off the heat.

12. 12

    Fish out the bay leaves and season the beans with salt and black pepper.

13. 13

    Spoon the beans over the rice, scatter with scallions and pass the hot sauce at the table.

Imported from africanbites.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.