Serves: 7
Total Calories: 55

1 pound dry red beans
8 cups water
1 meaty ham bone or ham hocks
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
few shakes Tabasco sauce
1 salt and pepper to taste

Place all in a big heavy pot. When it comes to a boil, lower heat and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 3 hours, but longer is fine. When they are soft enough, mash some of the beans against the side of the pot—makes for a wonderfully creamy sauce to serve over hot fluffy rice.

Gwen's Extra: Soaking the beans overnight cuts cooking time in half. The seasoning meat varies; my Aunt Tiel wouldn’t dream of making red beans without pickled pork, Ma Mère insisted on ham hocks, and my daddy liked hot sausage in his. But the real New Orleans secret is the ham bone marrow. Crack the bone to release that wonderful full-bodied flavor and creamy texture. A tradition that is still alive and well today, red beans and rice has always been cooked on Monday with the bone left over from Sunday’s ham. Before washing machines, that fit in quite well with the all-day chore of Monday washing. (Lundi is French for Monday; Mardi is Tuesday—bet you knew that.)

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 7
Total Calories: 55
Calories from Fat: 3

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