Thanks. I knew it was something like this.

Kidney beans contain a high level of Phytohaemagglutinin which is a naturally occuring toxin found in most beans. If they are not thoroughly cooked a person can get very ill even leading to hospitalization. The symptoms of kidney bean poisoning are described on the FDA’s website. It has nothing to do with mold however, but under-cooked beans. Boiling the beans at a 212 deg before putting in the slow cooker for 10 minutes gets rid of the toxin for sure.

Yes! The baking soda helps with the gassiness.

ikr…..roux is for gumbo and gravy!

You need credentials if you are going to dismiss food safety concerns. You are not qualified to make that “not true” judgment.

If you need credentials as a food scientist you won’t appreciate or ever get the hang of cajun cooking…

And your credentials as a food scientists are?

not true

Thanx, T! I do reviews on Yelp from time to time, and work to make them interesting and helpful. They gave me Yelp Elite status, which means sometimes, I get to lightly party/dine at no cost. So it’s probably worth the time and effort from a quid pro quo perspective. But I really write comment because I like to entertain myself and others. One of life’s simple pleasures. Good day!

OMG…You must be a NOLA Town person. I cannot stop laughing at your review. We be frank now aren’t we. Such a great post. You should do reviews.

When you purchase your beans, place them in the freezer. They stay fresh longer.

Thanks Abigail. I am constantly looking for new ingredients to try out and since I have several recipes that use buttermilk, I was wondering if I was missing something unique. Going to look for the Borden brand and if not I will try one of the combinations you suggested. Again Thanks.

Hi, Bertye! Yes. I use it all the time. I have zero idea how it got the name Bulgarian. But I like full fat buttermilk.Everything comes out better , moister than just adding more fat. If I can get only low fat buttermilk , I Usually mix in a little half and half to make it a little richer. Usually I buy Borden brand country store buttermilk. It says Bulgarian style buttermilk in smaller print on the label. I wouldn’t worry about whether it says Bulgarian or not. It says cultured buttermilk so as a swap out either mix low fat with a little h&h or cream . Or mix enough full fat yogurt thinned with a little milk and a squeeze of lemon juice as a good substitute . Anyway, Borden country store. Or any full fat buttermilk will work. The Bulgarian part on the label I’ve only seen in the last two years. I think it’s just marketing! Happy Baking!

we can get tahini at any of our local grocery stores. Publix and Bi-Lo.

I wonder how the nameless author of this blog doesn’t know this. Perhaps s/he is just a contracted writer, not an employee of Camellia. While I am not a digestive systems expert either, I do have experience with beans both ways, And I have read up on why beans give you gas. A simple explanation can be found at grow youthful.com/recipes/sprouts.php if you wish to learn about phytic acid and other gas-producing defense mechanism that plants evolved, to enhance the possibilities that the plant would reproduce.

I hear a mighty wind coming, because someone didn’t soak their Camellia beans. Don’t have time to soak? Unless you can’t make a plan, you do have time. For three days beforehand, rinse the beans twice a day. It can’t take more than two minutes each time. If you don’t have twelve minutes to prepare a large pot with 12+ meals, you are probably better off with a prepared food anyway.

Ditto on the liquid smoke — a little goes a long way. Start with a teaspoon for each cup of beans. Smoked paprika is good, also — start with a half teaspoon and see what you think. Also, I make a fake bacon out of buckwheat and adzuki beans (Sounds crazy, but it’s incredible), and will sometimes throw a strip in with the beans while they’re cooking, a la a smoked meat. It’s all good. Here’s the fake bacon recipe: http://www.ordinaryvegetarian.com/2010/11/vegan-mofo-7-amazing-homemade-vegan.html

Personally, I would refrigerate the beans overnight (after letting the pot cool). If you leave it at room temperature overnight, you might get some fermentation going on. (My preference is actually for the 1-hour soak. I think the flavor’s better.)

Kinda undoes the vegan thing, tho

Ok I’m still learning. I even cook my greens in there. I love my pressure cooker! Thank you I’ll try cooking them longer.

I cook mine in a pressure cooker. Don’t have to soak. Cook from dry to YUMMY in 35-40 minutes.

Liquid Smoke

Read them again.

I use the leftover Sunday ham joint. Chop some into cubes, leave the rest on the bone, cook all day, then fish the bone out.

Me either, nor cheese. Most definitely cannot be from New Orleans.

Convenience for one. Basic simplicity for two. My “Trinity” varies depending on my mood, taste and pockets are concerned. We all know as Louisianans cooking is a direct route to and from the heart, so its a matter of feeling. I may feel colorful and want to cook for a group of friends and family and want them to see how I’m feeling. That would constitute the usage of celery, red/green/yellow bell pepper and green/white/red onion. More Joyful and spirited. If my target audience are children, why bother… green bell, celery and white onion will do it. If I’m cooking for myself it could be either or depending on the time constraints and affordability. Same with gumbo… you can tell how important or close of a friend you are by what you get and the size shrimp I use in my gumbo. If you are getting Colossal or Extra Large shrimp, I’m trying to impress you. You are either a supervisor or the in-laws. Small shrimp or means I really don’t care much… just had to make this gumbo to get you off my back. Medium shrimp usually means it’s just for me and my household or really close friends. My true friends… one’s that are allergic to shellfish get the chicken and sausage gumbo made in a smaller pot to the side. I usually make a smaller pot with okra also for those with that particular taste.

Read the whole article – collard greens are mentioned in the third paragraph.

The liquid you cooked the peas in that you have set aside for the purpose (“reserved”).

I know a lot of people use that chili pepper vinegar…will have to try it.

I know its a southern thing…its a relish made with cabbage and green tomatoes…goes great with beans and rice.

I’ve never heard of Chow Chow. What part of Louisiana does that come from?

Can’t believe this year is almost over.

Better yet, in addition to your hambone, hocks, or sliced smoked sausage links, remove a pound of venison (deer) sausage from the casings and fry the loose sausage meat to add to the pot. C’est magnifique!

That sounds right to me…this is a great recipe too.

Did to much. Was good but only eat a small amount. It was only a tablespoon in 2 packs of beans. Dry jerk seasoning is better. Again not too much. That is a cure for tcommon cold.

Did you salt them early in the cooking?

I do…i always have to get my beans shipped

Middle eastern groceries.

More like ham with a turky neck texture but better flavor then both.. new orleans uses it also dont worry

Afterwards, use some of the oil (if there’s a huge amount of fat rendered) and all off the drippings to sauté all the veggies. Use illegal amounts of garlic and bell peppers, in addition to onions and celery. Caramelise them, then add roux! Hear me out… ROUX IS OUTSTANDING in red beans and rice.

Also, a healthy (big) dose of tomato paste.

Add beans and go!

Simmer for at least 3-4 hours

Ground beef in red beans…???..!!! REALLY.?? I have never heard of such.

I agree completely. I add my smoked sausage towards the end. This really held to keep the flavor.

Cube your ham in nice size chunks, fry them in about 2 T. Oil add meat and the juices to your pot.

Bay leaf. That pot should spill a lovely perfume into the air when you finally lift the lid. All that hot sauce and stuff, that goes on the table so nobody fights over how to cook the beans.

YES WE TRY THE LARGE AMOUNT OF WATER IT DID NOT WORKED .WE DO SOCK THE NIGHT BEFOR THE BEANS ARE TO HARD IF YOU DON’T. WEFIX ALL OURR BEANS IN
A SLOW COOKER 5 CUPS OF WATER IS RIGHT

Use a ham hock instead

I have never tried to soak them in baking soda. I soak them until I see white fluffy stuff on the water. Seems to work pretty well for me! Hope you enjoy the recipe!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I know that trick but it prints 11 pages and the instructions are throughout…just would be nice for full recipe to be on one page. Thank you.

Hi Nadiam57,

You can right click and print the entire page from your browser, and for recipes in the RECIPES section, we have a ‘Print Recipe’ option that will open up a text-only window you can print from.

Soaking the beans?

If it’s Monday in New Orleans, then there are thousands of households and restaurants with a big pot of red beans simmering on the stove. There are as many recipes for red beans as there are for gumbo. This one is my family favorites, based
off of a common New Orleans recipe with a few changes my family made. My wife
had never had real New Orleans red beans and rice until she had
my recipe. Now, if we don’t have pickle meat, we don’t do red beans.

Ingredients:

1 lb Camellia Red Beans
(Pretty much available at most large grocery chains)
1 lb Andouille sausage
(or Chappell Hill venison and pork
sausage or good smoked sausage)

1 lb pickled pork (pickled meat) Optional
except at my house. (Savoie’s available at HEB) or at Cajun Grocer

1 large onion chopped

1 large green bell pepper chopped

1 whole garlic minced (yeah ya gotta have the garlic)

4 ribs of celery chopped

3 bay large bay leaves

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tbs. salt

1 tbs. Cajun Seasoning

1- 8 Oz. can of tomato sauce (gives it more body and taste)

2-4 tablespoons olive oil

Cooking Instructions

Pickle pork, or pickle meat is only available in Louisiana. Savoie and Richards puts
it out and I like Savoie’s better. It can be ordered online from Cajun Grocer,
but it’s expensive. Mostly the shipping. Order a dozen or so and it’s not
too bad. Usually though, I just wait to go home, and get a dozen packs or so.

Pickle pork is very lean pork that has been pickled. It was a way of preservation
before refrigeration. Not to be confused with salted pork. My mother and both
my grandmother’s used both sausage and pickled pork in their red beans.

I have a little measuring spoon trio that measures a pinch, dash, and a smidgen. A
pinch is between a dash and a smidgen, with a smidgen being the smallest
measurement of the three.

Dash- 1/8 teaspoon

Pinch- 1/16 teaspoon

Smidgen- 1/32 teaspoon

The Night Before

Cut pickled pork in 1 inch cubes and brown in 1 tsp. olive oil. Put in bowl for storage over night.Leave the pan drippings for the next step.

Sweat vegetables in the olive oil and pork drippings with a bay leaf. While the veggies are cooking, and there is plenty of water in the pan, deglaze the pan by
scraping the brown deliciousness from the pickled pork from the bottom. If
not using pickled port, sweat vegetables in 2 tablespoons of olive oil
until almost dry. Season with 3 or four grinds of fresh black pepper, ½ tsp. of salt and 1 tsp. of Cajun seasoning or to taste.

Slice the Andouille or smoked sausage into ½ inch rounds and put in the bowl with the rest of the seasoning and pickle meat or smoked ham.

Put the sweated vegetables in the bowl covered, in fridge overnight (with the pickled pork if using it)

Get out the crock pot.Wash beans in and remove any debris and bad beans.

Put the beans in the crock pot and just cover with water. Stir in ½ tsp. of salt, 1 to 3 grinds of black pepper and a ½ tsp. of Cajun Seasoning, and place 1 bay leaf in
the water. Do not soak for more than 10 hours.

The Next Morning

Turn the crock pot on high. Get the bowl of vegetables and meat out of the
fridge and put into the crock pot. Add the 8 oz. of tomato sauce and add
water until up to the rim. Best to put the crock pot on a quarter baking
sheet with sides to catch the run over once the pot begins to boil.
Cook on high for 4 – 6 hours, after which, reduce
to low until the beans are tender. Keep water level near the top. Recycle
the water that overflows onto the baking sheet.

Taste and adjust seasoning as desired

Cook 2 to 2 and ½ cups of long grain rice. I like to have enough for
leftovers. (If any!)

Seasoning I don’t like to over season my food. I put enough seasoning to suite the taste of the person who least likes a lot of seasoning: just a slight after-burn. Then, I put the peppers in vinegar, and Cajun Seasoning on the table with the pepper and salt. You want it more seasoned, then you do it your self at the table. I cook with what
taste kids will eat; because if the kids like it, they will continue the custom
and you have another easy meal that feeds a lot!

Serve over steaming white rice with French bread, or garlic
bread, and a nice green salad. Serves about 6 to 8.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/409651-danger-of-raw-red-kidney-beans/

I also add a can of rotel. I cook all beans this way MINUS the meat, I am a vegetarian. So, so good. I mash about 1.5 cups of the beans once done to make it “stewy.”

Brown it with the beef.

5 cups is ideal if you cook them on High in the slow cooker.

awesome! thanks for sharing!

Correct- you do not need to soak the beans using the above method.

You want authentic flavor, use tasso. Google up some recipes; it’s not hard to make, but you can also find ready-made for delivery as well.

Thanks! I actually found a reference to a Savoi’s Cajun brand packaged pickled pork in a Brookshire’s online ad. Our stores here in North Louisiana have started carrying some of that line, so there is hope!

It’s readily available in South Louisiana, but can be hard to find outside this area. Alton Brown has a good recipe if you want to make your own – it takes 72 hours to pickle the meat. Smoked ham is not a subsitute.

Yes

Red bell peppers are preferred to get the green celery, white onions, and red pepper colors. If someone uses the green bell peppers, it is probably because they are more readily available or cheaper.

Here’s a recipe for pickled pork http://www.nolacuisine.com/2005/10/16/pickle-meat-or-pickled-pork-recipe. I’ve never made it since I’m still in NOLA, but I keep it handy (in case of evacuation).

Under normal circumstances, I would not be concerned about this, except for the fact that I just got finished doing Internet research where Wikipedia, several other sources, yankee cooks, and yankee houesewives were all claiming that Crowder peas ARE black-eyed peas. And i saw numerous pictures where people were presenting their completed Crowder pea dishes, and every doggone one of them had used black-eyed peas.

Frances, Leave the split and floating beans, they break down and make the thick gravy in the red beans