New Orleans Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried red kidney beans
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 12 oz andouille sausage
• 4 oz tasso or smoked ham
• 2 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 celery ribs
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 8 cups water
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 2 cups long-grain white rice
• 4 spring onions
• Louisiana hot sauce, to serve

Before you cook

• Cover the beans with cold water by three inches and soak them overnight.
• Drain the beans and rinse them.
• Slice the andouille into half-inch coins.
• Dice the tasso into small cubes.
• Peel the onion and chop it finely.
• Seed the bell pepper and chop it finely.
• Chop the celery finely.
• Peel and mince the garlic.
• Slice the spring onions thinly.

Steps

1. Heat the lard in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat.
2. Brown the andouille coins for 5 minutes, turning them once, until the edges are crisp.
3. Scoop the sausage out with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
4. Add the tasso to the pot and fry it for 2 minutes in the sausage fat.
5. Tip in the onion, bell pepper and celery and cook them for 8 minutes, scraping up the brown crust from the bottom of the pot.
6. Stir in the garlic, bay leaves, thyme, cayenne and black pepper and cook for 1 minute.
7. Add the drained beans, the ham hock and the 8 cups of water.
8. Bring the pot to a boil, then lower it to a bare simmer.
9. Cook the beans uncovered for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes so nothing catches on the bottom.
10. Lift out the ham hock, pull the meat from the bone, and return the shredded meat to the pot.
11. Return the browned sausage to the pot and add the salt.
12. Crush about a quarter of the beans against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon.
13. Simmer the pot uncovered for a final 30 minutes, until the liquid has thickened into a creamy gravy.
14. Rinse the rice, then cook it in a covered pan with 3 cups of water for 18 minutes over the lowest heat.
15. Rest the rice off the heat for 5 minutes, then fluff it with a fork.
16. Spoon the rice into bowls and ladle the beans over the top.
17. Scatter the spring onions over and pass the hot sauce around.