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January 3, 2014
Louis Armstrong’s ham hocks and red beans recipe:
"I thought her Creole gumbo was the finest in the world.
Her cabbage and rice was marvelous. As for red beans and rice, well, I don’t have to say anything about that. It is my birth mark." - -Dangerous Minds
Posted by gerardvanderleun at January 3, 2014 10:08 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
In 1993 I was made an honorary black woman because of my hamhocks and beans and cornbread.
Posted by: Jewel at January 3, 2014 10:25 PM
My family's from New Orleans, so I've been making red beans and rice for years.
Recently, my mother had a taste for navy beans---for some odd reason---so I tried Emeril Lagasse's Ham Hocks and Navy beans recipe using the remaining ham bone from Christmas because the seasonings were similar to the ones used in our recipe, and I wanted to see how they compared. It turned out pretty well.
Emeril uses a combination of thyme, oregano, garlic, bay leaves and red pepper flakes, which is authentic Creole.
Here's the recipe. My only changes would be to double the thyme and oregano to 1/2 tsp each (1/4 tsp?!!!---in what universe?) Lean into the garlic. Optionally, you can throw a little Lea & Perrin's Worcestershire sauce in there to taste, if you like. Hold off on the salt if the ham has imparted enough salt of its own; otherwise add it toward the end as he suggests.
Serve it with rice and drizzle it with a little extra virgin olive oil. If you want to kick it up a notch, splash a little vinegar on it; as my Grandma used to say, "It's da vinegah." Emeril uses green onions in the garnish here, but I'm used to chopped white onion. They're both good.
Posted by: ahem at January 4, 2014 7:38 PM