1-pound small red beans (rinse them and discard damaged ones)
melted fat (vegetable oil, pork fat or bacon grease)
½-pound chopped tasso or ham
1-cup finely chopped red, green or yellow bell pepper (OK to mix them)
1-large chopped sweet onion
1/2 –cup of finely diced celery
salt and ground pepper
ground cayenne or chopped dry red pepper
3 bay leaves
1 bunch chopped parsley separated into two equal portions
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
¾ pound smoked andouille sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces or thin slices
2 smoked hamhocks (have your butcher cut into several pieces)
3 large garlic cloves—chopped fine
10-12 cups liquid (see below)
Favorite hot sauce
5 cups cooked white rice
scallions for garnish
Place dried beans in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Water should be over the beans by 3 inches. Soak overnight, they will absorb much of the water.
Heat a 2 tablespoons of fat in a dutch oven over med-high heat, add ham and cook for 2 minutes or so. Add chopped veggies: bell peppers, onions, celery. Add cayenne. Turn heat down to medium and cook until soft. Stir regularly. Add bay leaves, one portion of the parsley, thyme, andouille and ham hocks. Cook until meat is lightly browned. Stir regularly. And the garlic for about a minute—no longer or it will get bitter.
Add beans to pot along with the 10 cups of liquid (chicken broth, vegetable broth, water or a combination of water and broth). Bring to a soft boil, then turn it down so that it simmers for 2 hours. Cook uncovered until beans are nearly ready to break apart. Remove the hamhocks to a cutting board and cut the meat from the bone. Chop the meat and add it back to the beans Remove 1 cup of beans and mash them into a paste then return them to the pot and stir the mixture. Let it cook down and thicken for another 20 minutes. Add salt and ground black pepper at this point to taste, and perhaps a little hot sauce and mix thoroughly. Adjust thickness with water (if too thick) or by letting it cook longer (if too thin).
Before serving, cut up the scallions fine. Off the heat, stir in the rest of the parsley. Serve in bowls over scoops of the cooked rice. Garnish with the scallions. Have the hot sauce on the side for those who want to spice it up.
