RED BEANS AND RICE
(from Jim Snead)
Food Needs  (Serves 8 Scouts)
 
1 One-pound Bag of Red Beans
Butter or margarine
1 Pound of high quality andouille, chorizos or other smoke sausage
1 Large onion
2 Ribs of Celery
1 Small green pepper
1 Jalapeno pepper
10 cups Water or low-salt broth
3 *Bay leaves
½ tsp *Black pepper
½ tsp *Red pepper
¼ tsp *White pepper
¼ tsp *Garlic powder
¼ tsp *Mixed Italian seasoning
3 **Cloves of garlic
1/3 cup  Fresh parsley (2 tbsp dried)
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp Tabasco sauce
1½ tsp Salt
1/3 cup  Fresh parsley (2 tbsp dried)
3 Green onions, chopped
Rice
*    Premix in plastic bag from home 
**  Or use pre-chopped/minced garlic available in jars		 Equipment Needs
 
1 Large pot with or without a large plastic bag & lid for cooking rice
1 Measuring cup & spoons
1  Dutch oven, well seasoned & lid tongs 
1 Hot gloves
1 Sharp chopping knife
1 Spatula
2 Large stirring spoons
1 Can opener
Aluminum foil for chopping surface and to cover Dutch oven
 
Instructions
  1. The night before serving, open and sort red beans (looking for small stone, etc); place in large sealable plastic bag with about 6 cups of water.  Store plastic bag in suitably sized pot.  Pot should be put into tent to protect from freezing.  If need be, beans can be speed cooked in morning per instructions found on bag.
  2. Soon after lunch is finished,  it is time to start.  Preheat the Dutch oven without the lid.
  3. Slice the sausage into ¼ to ½ inch pieces.
  4. Coarsely chop the onion, green pepper, jalapeno pepper (optional) and celery ribs.
  5. Melt a one inch pat of butter in the Dutch oven and sauté the sausage slices about five minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. 
  6. Add chopped onion, green pepper, jalapeno pepper (optional) and celery and sauté for another 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally and add more butter if needed (will depend on temperature of Dutch oven and fat content of sausage).
  7. Drain beans and add to Dutch oven, stir and mix well.
  8. Add ten cups of broth or water or any combination of them to get ten.  If beans were speed cooked, instead of soaked over night, only five cups of a broth or water combination is needed.
  9. Add bay leaves, red, white and black pepper, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.  Chop or mince garlic and add to Dutch oven; stir well. 
  10. Cover the Dutch oven and bring to a boil; stir occasionally.
  11. Once it is boiling,  remove cover and cook for 90 minutes.  Adjust coals so that “soup” is slowly boiling.  Stir occasionally to prevent burning.  Watch your coals and be careful to avoid ashes, etc from getting into the Dutch oven.  To minimize foreign objects, loosely fit aluminum foil on top of Dutch oven; but pierce or slit foil to allow steam to escape.
  12. Add 1/3 cup fresh (2 tbsp dried) parsley, Worcestershire sauce and Tobasco sauce.
  13. Reduce coals to simmer for another 60 minutes.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking or burning.  Add small quantities of water if needed to prevent “soup” from getting to thick at this point.
  14. Add salt and simmer for another 30 minutes or until the beans are tender or the broth is thick (thick is good now).
  15. During this time, prepare the rice according to the instruction on the box.  If using a precooked or “minute-type” rice, adjust accordingly.
  16. Just before serving, add 1/3 cup fresh (2 tbsp dried) parsley and chopped green onions.  Stir well and let sit for 5 minutes.
  17. Serve over rice.
Comments
  1. This is a great cold weather meal; especially when working on fire building and ax yard skills because it does need a lot of wood when you are cooking it in a Dutch oven.  This meal can be done on a stove.
  2. More sausage can be used if you like a meaty dish.
  3. Wash unused celery and “stuff” with either peanut butter or cream cheese and serve as a salad or a reward for the “patrol cooks”.   Because of the long time to prepare, patrols typically spread the “watch” among all members.
  4. As an alternative to preparing rice from box, there is a brand of rice in boil-a-bags that reduces much of the preparation and clean up.
  5. Personally at home I double the jalapeno,  chopped garlic and Tobasco sauce.  For adult leaders I do the same thing and serve with bread and “antacid”.
Index

CopyrightBoy Scout Troop 660