Chef Paul's Red Bean S And Rice With Ham Hocks

Total Time: 27 hrs Preparation Time: 24 hrs Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 lb dried red kidney beans
• water, to cover the beans
• 3 1/2 lbs ham hocks
• 16 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups celery, finely chopped
• 2 cups onions, finely chopped
• 2 cups green bell peppers, finely chopped
• 5 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon tabasco sauce
• 1 lb andouille sausage, cut diagonally into 3/4-inch pieces

Recipe

• 1 cover the beans with water 2" above beans.
• 2 let stand overnight.
• 3 drain just before using.
• 4 place the ham hocks, 10 cups of the water, celery, onions, bell peppers, bay leaves, and seasonings in a 5.5 qt saucepan or large dutch oven; stir well.
• 5 cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
• 6 reduce heat and simmer until meat is fork tender, about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• 7 remove ham hocks from pan and set aside.
• 8 add the drained beans and 4 cups of the water to the pan; bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasinally.add the remaining 2 cups of water and simmer 30 minutes, stirring often.
• 9 stire in the andouille and continue simmering until the beans start breaking up, about 35 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan fairly often.
• 10 *if the beans start to scorch, do not stir. immediately remove from heat and change to another pot without scraping any of the scorched beans into the new mixture.
• 11 add the ham hocks and cook and stir 10 minutes more.
• 12 serve immediately over hot, rice.