Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

1 lb. red kidney beans

1 lb. smoked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices, then quartered (turkey smoked sausage works dandily, too)

5 strips bacon

1 medium onion, diced
1 smallish green pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
One hambone or ham hock or a nice-sized smoked turkey wing or two
1-2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. each of garlic powder, pepper, thyme, sage, oregano and dried parsley

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Cooked white rice for serving.

Directions

Soak beans overnight in water to cover. Drain well and rinse beans. Cook bacon in large (big enough to accommodate your ham bone - it pays to plan ahead!) until fat renders and bacon is done. Remove bacon and set aside. Add onions, pepper and celery to pan and saute until softened. Stir in seasonings. Add soaked beans and ham to pot, then pour enough water to pot to cover beans and at least part of the ham bone (5-6 cups of water.) Bring all to boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer. 

You can simmer these forever (but at least 2 hours) and they will get nothing but better, as long as you stir them periodically and keep an eye on the liquid level so they don't dry up. About 30 minutes or so before you're ready to serve the beans, take out the ham bone and the bayleaves, use a potato masher to mash down into the beans a few times to break up a few of them and release their starch, and drop in sausage and the crumbled bacon. Wait until the ham bone cools and remove the meat from it and put it back in with the beans to get hot. 

Serve the beans over cooked rice or serve the beans first, with a generous scoop of cooked rice on top. 

This recipe makes enough for 8 -10 adult servings.