My husband and I have been waiting all week long for the LSU game tonight…why?  Not only because we love football season….so we can cook something and have a little excitement in the house!  Robert (the great guy I married 26 years ago!) decided last weekend that on Thursday night, for the LSU game, he would cook Red Beans and Rice.  Bright and early Sunday morning, he went to Rouses and bought his Camelia Red Beans, Savoie’s Sausage and Tasso.  He came home, all fired up, with Thursday Night Football on his mind!

I can tell you that I don’t have the same reasons for loving football as my husband does….I am all about the commotion and cooking!  Football Season excites me because when there is a big game on, there is a feel in the air (and in my house) that signals a party somewhere! It means food, gatherings and cooking something long and slow.  Even if, God forbid, I find myself alone and there is a big game on, I will cook something!  Imagine that…I can have fun alone…cooking!  Sometimes, I don’t eat what I cook that night, but I sure enjoy myself.  But, it is sooo much more fun to cook and watch a game with another person or maybe a lot of people.  Maybe I don’t even sit down (I have this little TV in my kitchen) during the game….just stirring a pot and walking back and forth, talking to my husband will do.  To me, that is a great day or night!  Now, if you put me at a camp in Pecan Island, cooking, having cocktails, walking around with a fire blazing outside AND watching a big game…well that is all lagniappe!

Robert’s Red Beans and Rice…..(Serves around 10 fans!)

Ingredients:

1 lb. Camelia Dried Red Beans

3 lbs. Savoies Smoked Green Onion Sausage – cut into 1/2 inch rounds…then into 1/4 pieces

1 lb. Savoies Smoked Turkey Tasso – cut into small pieces

3 small onions-chopped

2 garlic cloves-chopped

1 large green bell pepper-chopped

6 dashes of tabasco

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 Tsp. Old Bay Seasoning!

Water:  enough to cover beans plus 2 inches.  Robert uses the water that he soaks the beans in plus whatever amount you need to get to your 2 inches…All approximate, depending on how thick you would like your sauce to be.

1)     Soak beans…most important step!  Cover them with cold water,  and soak(at least a couple of hours).  If you don’t, you will never get them tender!! Believe me, it has happened!

2)     Drain and reserve water

3)     Brown sausage and tasso

4)     Remove sausage and put on platter

5)     Sauté onions, bell pepper and garlic in drippings, until translucent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)     Pour sautéed vegetables, drippings, red beans and water into a dutch oven or other heavy pot

7)     Add bouillon cube, tabasco and Old Bay Seasoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8)     Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer

9)     Cover and simmer for about 2-3 hours or until the beans are tender.  (if you want it to cook faster, then increase the flame to a low medium)

Serve over white rice, sit back and enjoy the game!!!!  When Robert makes food work, you better believe it’s good….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS….The “Old Bay Seasoning” is a tip from one of the best cooks I have met lately…Ms. Rita, head cook, at St. Joseph’s Diner in Lafayette, Louisiana.  She said that she never cooks Red Beans and Sausage without it!  Try it, you’ll like it!