kattitudes

OK, now I know that I live in the deep South, so these recipes come automatically to me. But I was reading on a website the other day where a poor lady was bemoaning the fact that all the Cajun mix packages that she purchased from the store were packed with so much sodium. Well of course they are! They are processed food products! They are made up primarily of sodium by-products – that is their job (don’t even get me started on this rant).

It just astounded me that someone would not be able to look up a recipe for how to cook red beans and rice and would rather purchase a store mix for it instead. I thought “nuts to that” and decided to put together a mix in a jar for you to put together and send out to your friends that want that little taste of Cajun in their kitchen. Try this recipe out at home yourself first if you haven’t had red beans and rice. It is a fantastic taste explosion. Hot and spicy and actually, quite healthy too.

1 tablespoon dried bell pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

BEANS & RICE
2 cups dried red beans
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice

TO PREPARE
2 cups red beans
1 ham bone
seasoning mixture
1 cup uncooked rice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound spicy smoked sausage (sliced)
salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine seasoning ingredients. Place in a small, sealable plastic bag or container. Fill a pint canning jar with red beans. Fill a sealable plastic bag with rice. Include the recipe for Red Beans and Rice.

Attach instruction card with recipe for use:

Wash beans. Place in a Dutch oven; cover with water and soak overnight. The following day, add ham bone and seasoning mixture. If necessary, add additional water to cover the beans. Cook, partially covered, over medium-low heat 3 to 4 hours.

About 30 minutes before serving, combine rice, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover pan and cook 30 minutes without lifting lid. About 20 minutes before serving, add sausage, salt and pepper to beans. Serve over rice.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 1:39 pm and is filed under kitchen gifts, mix in a jar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.