Red Beans & Rice

2 lbs dried red beans, rinsed and sorted over

Place the beans in a large pot, and cover with water by 2 inches or 12-16 cups of water. Boil 3 minutes, cover and soak 1-4 hours, adding water as needed to keep beans covered.

Drain off soak water and rinse and set aside.

Heat 6 Tablespoons of bacon grease, oil, or shortening over medium-high heat in frying pan.

To hot grease add:

3 cups chopped yellow onions
1-1/2 cups chopped celery

Saute a bit

To onions & celery add:

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 sprinkles of cayenne pepper
6 bay leaves
4 tablespoons parsley
4 teaspoons thyme
6 tablespoons chopped garlic

After a few minutes of sauteeing the seasonings & onion/celery mixture put the beans back into a big, big pot and all of the above ingredients. To this you will add 20 cups of chicken stock or water (for quick chicken stock, just add 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon for each cup of water)

Add a nice big ham bone or several ham hocks to the beans, seasonings, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and starting to thicken, about two hours. If the beans become thick and dry, add more water, about 1/4 cup at a time.

When the beans are tender and the ham is falling off the bone, take the bone out and go through your beans (I use a strainer with a pot underneath to make sure to catch my liquid) to make sure there aren't any small bones are pieces of fat in your meal. When you're satisfied you can add everything back into the pot and continue heating.

Serve with white rice. I made 12 cups of rice and have used it all even making rice as needed. This lasted us for dinner and several lunches. All my children enjoy it!