Thursdays Are For Cooking….
Red Beans and Rice with Chorizo and Smoked Sausage
This is something I came up with when I was quite hungry and wanted something warm and filling on a cold winter night. It is easy to fix, requires little of you other than your take on seasonings, and – well, winter is not over yet where I live and on a cold night, this is good, filling and tasty. It’s still cold outside at night where I live, and we had a dry Winter, appear to be having a rather dry Springs (not a good sign), and – well, the lakes where people were ice fishing about six weeks ago are thawed and full of feather flockers, so coming home from an adventurous hike to a warm kitchen that carries the scent of food waiting for you is always a good thing.
For starters, put a stockpot on the stove. Make sure it has a lid, because that keeps the flavor and moisture in the mix.
Note that I start with 4 cans of beans in chili sauce: Figure 1 1/2 to 2 servings per can, and adjust the volume according to how many people you’ll be providing sustenance for the evening.
Ingredients:
Olive oil or corn oil to cook the chorizo sausage
Four 12-ounce cans of red beans in chili sauce (Please note: I use 2 cans of beans, since it’s just me. I can get four meals out of this, so adjust your volume accordingly.)
1/2 (or more) chopped onion
One chorizo sausage (mild or hot, your choice, but the mild seems to provide the best flavor)
One smoked sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces (N.B: if you need more of this, add it)
1/2 cup of uncooked rice
Directions:
I start cooking the chorizo by squeezing it out of the tube into the cooking pot, smooshing it up and giving it a good stir until it is cooked. Keep an eye on it, because this is where your flavor is.
It is raw pork, so cook it enough to release the flavor, and it will finish cooking as you add ingredients to the mix. Use the whole tube of it. Don’t let it get crisp: that is overdoing it.
Once the chorizo is cooked, add the rice, cut up smoked sausage, and beans in chili sauce. Put the onions in last, to keep them crisp, or sprinkle them on top when serving it.
Stir this mixture thoroughly and put the lid on the pot. Keep checking on it. If it seems to be too dry, then add some beef broth, 1/2 cup at a time, to the mix, to keep it simmering.
IF you think it would cook better in the slow cooker, give that a try on low, because the lid will keep the moisture in and the rice will cook evenly. You could do this with the InstaPot if you’re in a hurry, but I haven’t tried that method yet. A slow simmer on the stovetop or in the slow cooker seems to work best for flavor.
Whatever you do, check on it frequently so that if the moisture/liquid in the mix becomes too reduced, you can add some beef or chicken broth to it. On the stovetop, I gave it 45 minutes because of the direct heat from the gas flame. In the Crockpot, cook it on “LOW” and keep checking it.
Add some cornbread or biscuits and butter to the table, plus cut-up veggies and other finger foods and enjoy your meal.
If I use a crock pot liner, should I still spray it to prevent sticking????
I have never sprayed a liner, and I like them if I want to avoid having to clean the crock.
The chorizo will still have to be pre-cooked in a pan before assembly of the dish in the slow cooker.
SD
Thanks Sea Dragon. This would be the first using a liner. Will be doing the Kielbasi/bean from a couple of weeks ago weeks.
Ex: Thank You again for sharing another recipe.
Question: You list one of the ingredients as “1/2 cup of uncooked rice”.
Are you saying that either 2 or 4 cans of red beans in chili sauce has enough liquid to cook the rice?
You cracked us up when you wrote “smooshing it up”…😄 You are indeed a true Chef.👩🍳
Yes, the chili sauce should be sufficient, but if you’re concerned about the liquid requirement you can add beef broth to the mix. No reason to hold back. You can also add a tomato-based juice like V-8 to increase moisture. I’ve done that, but sparingly. The lid on the Crockpot should hold in the moisture. You can also add some chili sauce to increase moisture, if your store has it.
Do NOT hesitate to improvise, either. If you’re unsure of regular rice not cooking well, then you can use something like Minute Rice which is pre-cooked and easy to deal with. I am always in favor of “easy-peasy” stuff.
Hope that helps.
Ex:
Since today is St Patrick’s Day, do you have any Corn Beef and Cabbage recipes to share?
Thank You!
Corned Beef and Cabbage (which isn’t really Irish)
You’ll Need:
You’ll Do:
Done! I like to serve with a horseradish sauce on the side.
THANK YOU, Chef Ed!!!
The ninja family will be using your recipe this weekend…and we know it will be a HIT!
BTW…Cabbages are not really Irish?
Maverick Weeps…(Maverick as in John McCain, not You Know Who…😆😁😅🤣😂)
Now that I think about it, Mick Weeps…Ask KoB..😉😎
gabn
Leave Mick’s plate in the Ladies Room, ninja. He’ll find it when he goes looking for his 2nd place trophy. (ducks, pulls overhead cover into place, gets small) gabn
Another good choice Ex. March has roared in like the Lion and it was a balmy 74F here today. Arty is late to the party today, CRC Meeting in the bigger little town up the road. Wore my Berdan’s Green Forage Cap today in Honor of Saint Paddy. Let’s Eat!
Don’t you have some aiming stakes to pound, or some such?
— GROAN —
Did ours in the pressure cooker, started around 10:20 this morning. It’s just two of us so everything is scaled back, three pound corned beef takes about an hour. I put about two cups of water in the pressure cooker, the trivet to keep the meat off the bottom of the cooker, add the seasoning pack the meat comes with and fire it up.
The turnip was pretty big, it looked like a rutabaga but is was a wax coated turnip. Cutting it was difficult, probably because of the wax coating. The vegetable peeler made short work of getting down to the good part.
Once the corn beef was done, about 11:30, a quick release on the pressure cooker had that meat out in about three minutes. Covered the meat on a cutting board to let it rest while the vegetables were “sharing the experience” in the pressure cooker.
Onions, turnips, potatoes, carrots and cabbage took about 20 more minutes in the pressure cooker.
It’s not easy for a southern man to cook for a Yankee. She ate it.
My wife doesn’t cook the cabbage & veggies with the corned beef.
She fries bacon in a large skillet. When done, take out the bacon & set aside. Add shredded cabbage, diced apples & onions to the skillet, sautee in the bacon fat until tender. Re-add the bacon (cut up). Serve. (YUM!)
I ain’t the cook, you’ll have to go to her for a more exact recipe. I’m just the sous chef, I fetch & carry & prep & clean up.
Do I notice a trend in the Thursday cooking threads that some type of beans and some type of sausage are a frequent ingredient? Could it be that beans and sausage are trying to become a food group?
It is a seasonal trend.
Winter is coming to an end. Finding a way to transit from winter to spring and summer cooking ain’t easy, but I’m your kitchen dweeb.
Hell yes! I’d eat that 😎
Made my own Chorizo sausage a couple of times, IIRC wine was a critical ingredient that distinguished it from other variations.
In Louisiana we generally start with Camellia red beans but I kind of prefer pink beans. In Massachusetts, I don’t see any kind of canned beans like ranch style or your regional Dakota brand in chili sauce. Ah well, improvise and overcome!
Well, you could improvise by using your favorite cooking beans and adding a couple cans of chili con carne to the mix, or just tomato paste, tomato or V8 juice, and seasonings like chili powder and garlic and cumin, to make your own chili sauce.
You make your own Chorizo? You lucky guy, you!!!
Almost forgot: I get the chili beans at Aldi. It’s the only place I’ve found them so far, but you could substitute canned chili of your choice for the chili beans.