I love me some red beans and rice and it’s taken me a little while to come up with a pretty yummy recipe (I can NEVER follow a recipe, but have to make it somehow my own.)
only one problem….
My beans are never soft enough. There are always a handful that are still crunchy in the middle and I think that totally messes up a good batch of beans and rice. Anyway, for this meal, I soaked them overnight (20 hours to be precise) then simmered them for 3 hours, and the little buggers were still crunchy. So I had the brilliant idea to throw them in the pressure cooker….for 7 min, then for 11min, then finally for 7 more minutes.
There was no rhyme or reason to my selection of time, I just didn’t want them to turn to mush. But the little bastards were still a little crunchy. I had to serve it, because we were all so hungry I thought we might turn into monsters if we didn’t eat. And by we, I really mean me.
Next time I think I might just buy canned…..
Well honey, you should have called me! I am the bean queen…here’s what I do & it works everytime.
Rinse beans thouroughly and dump into a 3-4 quart crock pot. Cover with no less than 6-8 cups of water (2/3’s of the crock pot capacity works for me cuz we like soup) – add the spices of your choice (onions, garlic, salt etc.). Set on low and walk away……for hours and hours – resist the urge to keep peeking and stirring. I start mine about 7:00 a.m. and we are eating bean soup by 4:00 p.m. Only stir 2 or 3 times during the day and add more liquid if it is evaporating too quickly.
Love ya!!!!