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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Gastronomy in the southern states of the US is characterized by the influence of the Spanish, French, English, Caribbean, African and native-American cuisines. It includes the states of Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and the Mississippi River zone.
Their Spanish, French, and English colonial past, in chronological order, left southern people as a heritage of one of the most unmistakable styles of cuisine in the United States.
One region, two cuisine styles
In that large area, comprising several states, two types of cuisine are very similar: Cajun cuisine and Louisiana Creole cuisine, although the origins of these both are different.
The Cajun cuisine represents the traditional foods made by French farmers who moved to the American continent and adapted their typical foods to the ingredients of the Acadia region, outside of New Orleans.
Louisiana Creole cuisine, on the other hand, comes from the recipes used by the upper classes of France or those who love that lifestyle, and when they moved to America, they had to adapt their recipes to the ingredients available in the Louisiana region.
The most popular dish of Louisiana Creole
cuisine
One of the typical meals of southern-US gastronomy is the Louisiana Style Red Beans and Rice. If you want to know more about it, you can visit https://minuterice.com/recipes/red-beans-and-rice/.
The following is a recipe with which you will learn how to prepare the authentic Creole Red Beans and Rice. See the ingredients and the detailed steps to make this fantastic dinner at home.
Louisiana Style Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients
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1 lb. of dry red beans.
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2 tbsp. of cooking oil.
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14 oz. of Andouille sausage.
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1 green bell pepper.
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3 green onions.
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1 yellow onion.
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3 ribs of celery.
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4 cloves of garlic.
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2 tsp. of paprika.
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1 tsp. of oregano.
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1 tsp. of thyme.
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⅓ tsp. of onion powder.
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⅓ tsp. of garlic powder.
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⅓ tsp. of black pepper.
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⅓ tsp. of cayenne pepper.
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2 bay leaves.
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6 cups of water.
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1/4 cup of chopped parsley.
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1 tbsp. of salt.
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1.5 cups of long-grain white rice.
How to prepare
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It’s highly recommendable to use a large bowl and soak the beans in water overnight. This will double their volume. You can let them soaking in the refrigerator as well.
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Start by cutting the Andouille sausage into rounds. Then, add the cooking oil to a large pot and cook the sausages until they get golden brown. Remove the sausage rounds from the pot and reserve for later.
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Dice the onion, celery, and bell pepper. Smash the garlic cloves.
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Add the chopped vegetables to the pot where the sausages were cooked. Sauté the vegetables over medium heat for a few minutes while they mix with the sausage scraps left in the bottom of the pot.
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Add the smoked paprika, onion powder, cayenne, black pepper, oregano, garlic powder, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot with the sautéed vegetables. Stir for two minutes.
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Drain the red beans, rinse them under tap water and pour them into the pot along with the 6 cups of water and stir for a few seconds to combine all the ingredients.
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Place the lid on the pot and raise the heat to medium-high until water boils. When it has boiled, lower the heat to medium-low and continue simmering for one hour, stirring occasionally.
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After boiling for one hour, the red beans should be tender. Now, smash the beans with the backside of a spoon, stir again and continue boiling the mixture until it gets thick. You must simmer the beans without placing the lid for 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile, start cooking the rice. Measure 1 cup of long-grain size rice and 3 cups of water and pour them in a saucepan and cook until boiling. You must keep the lid on. After the rice is cooked, simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. Then turn off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes.
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Fluff the rice with a fork before serving.
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After the red beans and vegetable mixture has thickened, add back the sausage rounds from the first step. Stir. Top with the fresh parsley and add more salt to enhance the flavor. Stir again.
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On a bowl or deep plate, serve the red beans along with a portion of rice and sprinkle some sliced green onion over them.