That's 'licious, Mommy!: Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Sausage

...well, it's Tuesday, but it was wash day for me, so maybe that still counts. Reading up on the traditional Louisiana dish of red beans and rice taught me that on Monday (wash day) a big batch of beans was simmered along with the leftover ham bone from Sunday dinner along with the holy trinity of culinary arts: celery, onion, and carrots. Hence the above picture that replaces my customary food quote. I found a couple of food quotes about red beans and rice, but they were not entirely appropriate.

I have been craving red beans and rice for going on a month now, and I'd just about had all I could stand of not having some. I visited New Orleans in January 2004 (pre-Hurricane Katrina), and I loved it. I wish I could go back and experience it all again with a little dash of my 10-years-older wisdom. I've tinkered with recipes that hearken back to the foods we ate that week, but I've never attempted RB&R 'til now. It isn't difficult, really. What I lacked today was time. I wasn't certain I was going to have the andouille I needed/wanted, so I didn't get my beans pre-soaking until (eek!) 4pm. Never fear, you can cook dry beans in the pressure cooker, and they turn out amazing! I Googled it and found a couple of sites that are indispensable (theKitchn & hip pressure cooking). Enough jibber-jabber. Let's get on with it!

Red Beans & Rice with Andouille

Beans:

1 lb dry red beans (not kidney beans)

8-10 cups cold water

3 TB salt

1. Sort, rinse, and drain beans. Add to large pot. Cover with cold water. Add salt, stir.
2. Turn heat on medium-high. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to maintain rapid boil for 5 minutes.
3. Cover pot, turn off heat. DO NOT REMOVE POT FROM CAP! Let sit 60-90 minutes.
4. Drain, rinse, drain.

*ingredients from theKitchn*

quick-soaked beans

1 tsp pre-minced garlic (or a fresh clove or two if you have it)

1 TB oil

1 bay leaf

8 cups cold water

1 tsp salt

1. Add beans and 8 cups cold water to pressure cooker. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Attach lid to pressure cooker and turn cap on to medium (5-6)

2. While pressure is building, start on rice and sausages.

3. Once pressure cooker reaches a steady pressure/jiggle, set timer for 24 minutes (as per chart).

4. After 24 minutes has passed, turn off cap, remove pressure cooker from heat, and very slowly begin to release pressure. I barely pressed the pressure button so a scant amount of steam could escape. I just didn't have the time to let it depressurize naturally, so I thought this method was likely the next best thing.

5. Once cooker is depressurized, carefully remove lid. Stir beans, test for doneness. *If beans require additional time, simply replace lid on cooker and bring to full pressure to continue cooking* Remove bay leaf and discard.

Rice (while beans are cooking):

3 cups Thai Jasmine rice

6 cups cold water

1. Rinse rice until water runs clear. Add rice and water to large pot. Cook over medium-low heat until water is absorbed. If rice reaches a boil, reduce heat to maintain a very gentle simmer.

2. If necessary, add water 1 cup at a time if the rice cooks too quickly and is still tough or starts to dry out.

Sausage (while rice is cooking):

2 pounds Johnsonville Andouille

1 softball-sized white onion

1. Cut onion into 1/4" dice. Reserve 1 cup as garnish.

2. Slice each sausage in half lengthwise. Cut into 1/4" slices.

3. Saute sausage over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Add onion, and stir frequently until onion is your desired level of tender-crisp (I just cooked it until the rice was done - about 5 minutes from end-time on beans).