I got this recipe from an old lady down in Dulac, LA, except it wasn't a recipe - it was a "little of this and some of that." Over the years I've tuned it to the way I like it.
Red Beans and Rice
Make a ham stock:
1 cup white wine
Ham bone, or smoked ham hocks, or smoked neck bones
2 medium onions, coarse chopped
2-3 stalks celery, coarse chopped
3-4 carrots, coarse chopped
1-2 cloves coarse chopped garlic
½ - 1 tsp cayenne pepper, or Tabasco/La hot sauce/crystal Hot sauce, your choice
Cover meat/bones with water (about a gallon) and wine, and bring to a boil. Skim off scum as it forms. Add vegetables, reduce heat and simmer for 3-4 hrs, skimming scum. Strain and discard solids. Use a gravy pitcher to skim fat, or chill and skim fat off the top.
Red Beans:
• 2 pounds red kidney beans, dry
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 5 ribs celery, chopped
• As much garlic as you like, minced (I like lots, 4-5 cloves)
• 1 large smoked ham hock, or 1 lb. smoked ham, diced, for seasoning
• 2 pounds smoked sausage or andouille, rendered then sliced into bite-sized pieces.
• 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• As much Crystal hot sauce/Tabasco/LA hot sauce as you like, to taste
• A few dashes Worcestershire sauce
• Tony Chachere’s seasoning, to taste
Ton'ys has a lot of salt in the blend, so if you're into salt control make your own: red pepper, black pepper, salt to taste
Soak beans overnight in water. Make sure they are covered deeply. They will swell and absorb water, and will get hard if they absorb enough to be uncovered.
Next day, drain water off the beans and replace with clean water. Boil the beans for about 45-60 mins, until beans are tender, but not falling apart. Drain the beans.
Render sausage while beans are boiling. Slice in half length-wise, place on cookie sheet/wire rack, bake @ 350 until most of grease is cooked out.
While beans are boiling, sauté onions, bell pepper, and celery until onions turn clear. Throw in garlic and sauté a little more, a couple of minutes. Don’t sauté garlic too long – it burns easily. If you burn it, throw the whole mess out and start over.
Add the sautéed vegetables to the drained, cooked beans. Add rendered sausage and ham hock/meat. Add seasonings. Add just enough ham stock to cover – you don’t want this too thin.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 3 hours. It should turn thick and creamy. You have to stir fairly often to keep it from sticking and burning.
For thicker/creamier beans, take a couple of cups of beans out and mash them up, then return to the mix and stir.
If you can, put the beans in the refrigerator and plan to eat them tomorrow.
Make a big pot of rice.
Serve rice covered with beans on a plate. I like to add a short piece of andouille (some people like chaurice, but I don’t), a slice of onion, and jalapeno pepper slices (fresh if you can get it, or canned slices). Serve with crispy French bread.
RBR is traditionally served up on Monday’s in south LA.
If you don’t want to bother with making a ham stock, it’s ok to use water, and that is what most people do. I just think ham stock gives it a richer and better taste.
I usually make about 5 gallons, and do it outside – you know, the guy thing – sit around on the patio, drink beer, and stay “busy cooking”. You have to have a really big pot – I have a 15 gallon crawfish pot - and propane burner. It takes about the same amount of time to make 5 gallons as it does to make 1. Just increase beans (about 6 lbs) and make more stock (or use some water), and use more vegetables – onion (I use 6 or 7) celery (I just use a bunch) and bell pepper (I use 3 or 4). Don’t multiply seasonings, do the season-and-taste-and-reseason thing. For some reason 5 gallons requires about 3x as much stuff as 1 gallon, but you can play with it to get it like you like it. Sometimes I use 8 lb of beans, just because I like beans.
Give it to your friends and tell them to make their own rice/garnishes.
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By Brad Ford (BonaireTalker - Post #61) on Monday, December 7, 2009 - 11:03 am: 
definitely piqued my curiosity!!