"Red beans and ricely yours...."

“Red beans and ricely yours." They say that Louis Armstrong loved red beans and rice so much he signed his personal letters with this salutation (I bet he had to do without them on the Apollo 11 flight!!). Beans and rice are always a favorite around here, and if you've ever heard the saying "inhabitants of underdeveloped nations and victims of natural disasters are the only people who have ever been happy to see beans and rice", well, you might have to consider a little different definition for "underdeveloped nation" by my way of thinking. We like them, and this nation is ANTYHING but indeveloped. We make ours with ham (NOT the prancy stuff from Spain where the fat melts away from the lean at the same temperature as human blood - rub that stuff on your lips for a few seconds and you end up with a lard pool on your chin!). We use good smoked hocks from a local butcher, but the real secret is.....chicken.

Here's how we do it: Start with 4 qts of water and a roasted chicken (pick one up at Costco off the rotisserie - no need for free-range for this dish, and it's a lot less work). Put the WHOLE chicken into a boiling water, turn the heat down to a simmer, and leave the lid OFF. After about 3 hours you should have NO MORE than 1/2 cup of concentrated chicken essence. Now throw the chicken away, strain the essence, and put it back into the pan. Add the "Trinity" (see photo in blue bowl - peppers, scallions, mozzarella, and a little avocado), 1 big ham hock, 1 32oz. can V8 juice, 2 bottles of your favorite amber liquid, then add salt, pepper, and your favorite hot-sauce to taste. Finally, pour in 1 bag of red beans (the stars of this show), and a WHOLE, UNCUT white onion (it'll cook down just fine). Cover the pot tightly, set the heat to low, and go to bed. This is a gulf-coast variation of this classic, and like many vegetable preparations, it cooks over night! Turn it off in the morning when you put on your coffee, and just turn the pot back up to reheat 20 minutes before you're ready to serve (this dovetails perfectly with your rice preparation). Leftovers are better still as the flavors become "neighborly" in the icebox (you can see the picture of ours heating in the pan). Serve with a BIG salad (you can use your leftover trinity here and tie the two courses nicely together). This is the perfect dish for a hot summer day. ENJOY!