A hearty pot of slow-simmered red beans flavored with ham, vegetables, garlic, cumin, Worcestershire and a touch of heat. The ham is added back to the thickened beans along with fresh lemon juice and served over hot white rice.
Servings: About 6–8
Prep Time: About 20 minutes, plus overnight soaking
Cook Time: About 2½–3 hours
Ingredients:
- 1 ham bone or 3–4 ham hocks
- 1 (16-ounce) bag dried red beans
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 canned roasted jalapeño pepper, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt, to taste
- Cooked white rice, for serving
Instructions:
- Rinse the beans thoroughly in several changes of cold water. Place them in a large bowl, cover generously with cold water and soak overnight.
- Drain the soaked beans and discard the soaking water.
- Transfer the beans to a large pot and cover with fresh cold water.
- Add the ham bone or ham hocks, celery, bell pepper, jalapeño, onion, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. Do not add salt at this point.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer gently for approximately 2 hours, or until the beans are tender.
- Remove the ham bone or ham hocks from the pot. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, discard the bones and reserve the ham.
- Leave the pot uncovered and continue simmering until the beans and cooking liquid have thickened to your desired consistency.
- Return the reserved ham to the pot and stir in the fresh lemon juice.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt only as needed.
- Serve the red beans hot over white rice.
Tip: Wait until the beans are tender before adding salt. The ham contributes considerable saltiness on its own, so taste the finished beans before adding any additional salt.
Source: Garnet Berg