2010 Challenge: Red Beans and Ricely Yours

"Red beans and rice...but it ain't even Monday."

Restaurant red beans often get a very bad rap. This is mostly because each of our taste buds are geared to a hyper specific version of this local favorite. Growing up, Augie took care of my two sisters and I. She came to the house two or three times a week to do laundry, cook dinner, and teach me that touching an iron is a bad idea. No red beans could ever compare to hers. They were studded with cubes of ham that had evolved into tender morsels of flavor and seasoned with little more than dehydrated onion, salt, pepper, and dried parsley.

The red beans at Freret Street Po-Boys are the best restaurant beans I've found. While they did not utilize the cubes of ham that made Augie's seem like a stew, Freret Street's red beans well-seasoned and delicious. Reducing a red bean recipe to words does no good because you already have a red bean recipe or flavor profile in your head. But after years of messing around with red bean recipes, here is mine. It will likely change next week.

Note: While it is traditional to cook and eat red beans on a Monday (traditional washing day), you probably work on Monday. Which means, you don't have time to cook red beans on Monday. But I bet on Sunday you sit around in your boxers watching I Love Money reruns and doing laundry. Plus, it is a poorly kept secret that red beans get better on the second day. So do this, cook your beans on Sunday. Eat them on Monday. Tradition adapts in order to survive.

Red Beans, Green Beans, and Rice

For the Beans

Tasso, Richards, 1 package, diced
Smoked Pork Jowl, 3 slices, diced
Smoked Ham Hocks, 2
Onion, 1, diced
Celery, 6 stalks, diced
Garlic, 6 cloves, minced
Parsley, 3 tablespoons, chopped (plus another 2-3 tablespoons for garnish)
Red Beans, Camelia, soaked overnight or one hour in hot water
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne
Hot Sauce
Bay Leaf

In a large, heavy bottomed pot, slowly bring the tasso and and pork jowl up to temperature. This will make your house smell like a pocine sauna. A good thing, for sure. Once some of the fat has rendered out of the pork jowl and a nice crust has developed on the tasso, add in your seasonings-the onion, celery, garlic, and parsley. Notice, I dont use green peppers.; I don't think they add much to the discussion.

Let this cook for about 10 minutes. Then toss in those two smoked ham hocks. Now add your presoaked beans. Add in salt, pepper, cayenne, and hot sauce to taste. Two bay leaves as well; no more, no less. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and allow to simmer until done. For me this is 8-10 half hour episodes of network TV.

Now, here is the interesting thing. You probably read that and said "Pork Jowl"? Consider it bacon's manlier cousin. The jowl melts into your liquid, thickening the sauce so that you dont have to go in there and mush half the beans. Plus, it adds this deep layer of essence of pork. Which coincidentally, would make for one hell of a perfume.

Green Beans

Green Beans, 2 fistfuls, trimmed
Rice Wine Vinegar, teaspoon
Sesame Oil, 2 tablespoons
Garlic, 1 clove, minced
Salt
Red Pepper Flakes
Pepper

Blanch the beans in heavily salted water until al dente. Meanwhile combine the salt, pepper, garlic, andd red pepper flake with the rice wine vinegar in a bowl. Using the tines of a fork, mix and then stream in the sesame oil. Remove beans from water and toss in dressing.

In Search of Monday Lunch: Freret Street Po-Boys & Donut Shop

No one has ever accused Blackened Out of being overly stereotypical in our dining preferences. While the guidebooks sing the praises of jambalaya, crawfish pie, and file gumbo, we're usually blathering on about steaming bowls of pho, chicharron tacos, and sweetbreads with truffled grits. But a recent lunch at a neighborhood joint served as a revelation of just how delicious simple, everyday New Orleans food can be.

This past September, Troy Rhodes and his wife Myra opened their restaurant just a few blocks from their children's school. Troy had been in the air conditioning business for years and decided he had become tired of climbing into attics all day. After dropping the kids off for school one day, they passed a royal blue corner building and a few months later they were open for business.

Counter service and a friendly smile make for a fast and affordable lunch. The menu is full of recipes culled from generations of family. "I just cook like I cook at home," says Troy. The gumbo is thin on roux but loaded with shrimp, chicken, two kinds of sausage, and plenty of flavor. Creamy red beans are complete with bits of ham hock (both meat and bone). This Monday staple is available everyday, either as a stand alone meal or paired with hot sausage or 2 pieces of fried chicken for $9. A rotating selection of plate lunches include smothered cabbage with potatoes, fried seafood, and stewed chicken.

Some people measure the deliciousness of a roast beef po-boy based on how many napkins are needed to consume one. The roast beef at Freret Street is not nearly as messy as Parkway Bakery, but several napkins are still required. Whole roasts are studded with copious amounts of garlic cloves and then cooked down till the debris style shreds of beef are cloaked in a gravy with plenty of body and soul.

And just in case you missed them for breakfast, the homemade donuts make an excellent dessert.

Freret Street Po-Boys not only serves quality, affordable New Orleans home cooking, but the restaurant is an example of the revitalization of the area. "I remember when Dunbar's was here," Troy recalls. "Maybe one day down the road, people will look back and remember us as a pioneer for this whole area." With food like this, Troy is well on his way.

Freret Street Po-Boys & Donut Shop
4701 Freret Street
904-9636