How much of each? come on man!
Follow up, it turned out fantastic. Kind of embarrassing to say, but I really love this and my wife and her family do as well. The perfect cold weather meal, especially the "2nd Day"... Recipe is as follows:
In my opinion, served over cornbread is the way to go, but I guess the "traditional" way is to serve over rice.
Ingredients
* 1 pound dried red beans rinsed and sorted over
* 2 slices of smoked bacon, chopped into 1� or so, pieces
* 1 cup chopped smoked ham
* 3 yellow onions chopped
* 1 stalk of celery, chopped
* 1 green bell pepper chopped
* pinch or two of salt
* freshly ground black pepper (however much you like)
* � teaspoon cayenne powder
* Pinch of red pepper flakes
* 3 bay leaves
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
* 2 teaspoons thyme
* 1 1/2 pounds andouille sausage, split in half lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
* ~1 1/2 pounds smoked ham hock
* 6-8 cloves chopped or crushed garlic
* Enough chicken stock (or water) to cover all ingredients in the pot
* pan of cornbread (or rice)
* chopped green onions for garnish
Directions
Rinse, clean and check beans for mud or rocks. Cover with water and soak overnight. Drain and set aside.
In a large pot, cook the bacon pieces over medium-high heat. Add the chopped ham and cook, stirring, for about a minute, or until browned a bit. Add the onions, celery and bell peppers to the bacon and ham in the pot. Season with the salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the bay leaves, parsley, thyme, sausage, and ham hocks. Stir to brown the sausage and ham hocks (about 5 minutes or so). Add the garlic and stir around to incorporate. Add the beans, red pepper flakes and chicken stock (or water), stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and start to thicken, about 2 � to 3 hours.
If you want, take the back of a large spoon and mash some of the beans against the side of the pot after they are tender. This thickens the broth up a bit.
Serve over cornbread or rice and garnish with chopped green onions.
I think the next time I make this, I�ll probably chop up a Serrano or fresh cayenne pepper and add to it. To me, it still needs a little heat, but you might want to try it as is first. You can always add heat through sprinkling Tabasco or Sriracha sauce or something like that when served. Can�t take the heat away if you cook it in�
In my opinion, served over cornbread is the way to go, but I guess the "traditional" way is to serve over rice. Cornbread is much mo' betta though...
