Cajun Cookin' - Pressure Cooker Red Beans & Rice
Laissez les bons temps rouler! Let the good times roll... and roll we did. My immediate family celebrates family birthdays quarterly. On New Years Eve we got together at my brothers in Sabetha to celebrate our fourth quarter birthdays. We shopped all of the shops on main and another quaint shop off main... and a Soda stop at Casey's, of course. Sadly, they were out of the iced sugar cookies :(. We had lunch and then played cards, and opened gifts and visited.
In thinking about our menu we tossed around a couple of things, Chinese or Cajun. We ended up on Cajun and that made me happy, happy, happy. I had several recipes I wanted to make. My brother was making Cajun Chicken Pasta, so I told him I'd bring Cajun BBQ Shrimp. I learned to make this Shrimp in a Cast Iron Cooking Class at Kitchen Gallery here in Topeka with Chef Alli. (Thank you Chef Alli for this AMAZING recipe - link below). And I would make Red Beans & Rice. I knew I could make the rice in my rice cooker and wanted to figure out a good way to make Red Beans in my trusty Pressure Cooker. We ended up making rice in my brothers Instant Pot to save more time.
Jason gave me an Instant Pot for Christmas and I was looking forward to working with it. I know my Cuisinart like the back of my hand, but thought this would give me a good way to break in the new one. I researched a lot of recipes but found one from Emeril Lagasse (if you're going to do Cajun.. Emeril should be your inspiration, right?!) that I thought was a good way to start. I made up my own based upon inspiration from him. I did a small test run Friday night and tweaked for the "real deal" on Saturday.
They turned out delicious. Everything in the meal was yummy and time with family, well you just can't beat that!
-MamaFin
THE RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb. Red beans, sorted and soaked overnight
- 3 T. Bacon grease
- 1/4 c. chopped Ham (I used Smithfield)
- 1 1/2 c. Chopped Yellow Onions
- 3/4 c. Chopped Celery
- 3/4 c. Chopped Green Peppers
- 1/2 t. Salt
- 1/2 t. Pepper
- 1 t. Cayenne
- 3 Bay Leaves
- 2 T. Chopped Fresh Parsley
- 2 t. Fresh Thyme
- 1/2-1 lb. Smoked Sausage, split in 1/2 and diced (I used the full pound)
- 1 Ham Hock
- 3 T. Chopped Garlic
- Chicken Stock
- 2 t. Oil, I used Cayenne Infused Olive Oil for more zip
- 4 c. White Rice, prepared
DIRECTIONS
In PRESSURE COOKER:
- Heat the bacon grease over medium-high heat. Add the ham and cook until browned.
- Add the onions, celery and bell peppers to the pot.
- Season with the salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add the bay leaves, parsley, thyme, sausage, and ham hock, and cook, stirring, to brown the sausage and ham hock, about 4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the beans and stock (or water), oil (to prevent foaming), stir well.
- NOTE: You will add enough stock to just cover the beans.
- Cook at High Pressure for 22-25 minutes, and then a natural pressure release.
- Simmer, if necessary to continue to cook until the beans are tender and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves.
- Serve over prepared white rice.
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