Something magical happens when the remnants of one meal become the foundation for a wholly new one.

Red beans’ three muses: rice, hot sauce, and cheap, cold beer. This is the only way, and I will show you.

The ham will also begin to fall off the bones with a little encouragement. They should be squeaky clean by the time you’re finished. Leaving this on low while you complete other chores is also encouraged. Their ability to provide a low-maintenance, hearty meal while all the Louisiana-mama’s did the laundry on Mondays, gave red beans their famous weekly recurrence in the Creole kitchen. They not only take advantage of Sunday’s ham bones, but they are also very much your friend and want you to be productive and be praised for your cooking.

When my parents first dated, my mom cooked red beans for my dad. It was most certainly not a spiritual experience for them. Dad lovingly ate them anyway - the first of many sacrifices he made for his family. He was never a good liar, but he must’ve seen something beyond bad red beans and they were married for 25 years. Either way, somebody in our ranks had to learn the ways of good beans. They are a part of our culture and more than just a meal.

[ 1 ] I don’t soak my beans. Fight me.

I don’t soak my beans. I mix them right into the cooked veggies: raw, hard, and unapologetically dried. There are many who say that an overnight soak is necessary to soften the beans, make them creamy, and somehow shorten the cooking time. Don’t worry, my grandma fussed at me when I made this and falsely claimed to have found a “hard bean.” While a soak might save a couple hours on the stove, it will not produce nearly the same depth of flavor as having those same beans on low heat, cooking, with a ham bone, and aromatics like celery and onions for those same two hours. Every minute that pot stays on the stove, the flavor is intensifying, the beans are thickening, and your dinner prospects are improving ten-fold.

[ 2 ] Render ham and sausage fat and cook the vegetables in it.

Render the fat from the ham and the sausage for maximum flavor. As is true in any recipe, fat = flavor. This recipe cooks the diced vegetables in the fat until they are caramelized, soft, and intensely flavored. Bay leaves, cloves, nutmeg, chili flake, cayenne, butter, and tomato paste join the party as well. What’s that you say? That tomato paste looks like ketchup? Why yes. Yes it does. I was out of tomato paste for this shoot (horrifying, I know). A good cook is a flexible one that knows their ingredients and can pivot on a dime to make things work.

[ 3 ] Add flavorful liquids like beer or chicken broth. Water works, but these are better.

While water is a worthy flavor extractor, the incorporation of tasty liquids like homemade chicken broth or beer work well here and add a bit of depth. Stay away from IPAs and fruity beers. Lagers or an amber ale are better for your beans. Add enough liquid to cover the beans and the bones.

C’est tout!