This variation on red beans and rice represents much of what I love about cooking. It’s based on tradition but not dogmatically so. The red beans recipe is as straightforward Cajun/Creole as you might find, but I’ve added a pinch of a luxury ingredient — saffron — to the elevate the rice, and I’ve used basmati rice rather than the customary Carolina rice.
And while red beans and rice is common Louisiana fare, and delicious, I’ve always felt the dish was missing something — an oozy, runny egg on top. This turns it from Cajun/Creole into more of a Latin American dish. Latin American food, especially Cuban food, is full of rib-sticking bean-and-egg-combinations like this one.
This dish also embodies my approach to seasoning. I like layered, rounded flavors, and one of the ways you achieve those kinds of full flavors in your cooking is to use multiple sources of acidity. In the red beans recipe, you have acidity from the tomatoes and the green peppers, but also from the Worcestershire sauce, the hot sauce, even from the dried bell peppers that are in the prepared Cajun seasoning.
“Layered” seasoning, which means a taste sensation that pleasantly coats the mouth and has a long, agreeable aftertaste also comes from seasoning not all at once (epecially not at that very end of the cooking process) but at the beginning, middle and the end. The Cajun seasoning, hot sauce and Worcestershire are added at several points during the cooking of the red beans, and so is the salt in the rice.
Another good thing about this dish ( and this may encourage you to make it, despite the long list of ingredients) is that the rice and beans freeze beautifully and microwave up just fine. If you eat alone, or in twos, simply divide the rice and beans into individual Ziploc bags, and freeze.
Red Beans and Rice with Egg Makes 8 portions.
Ingredients
RED BEANS
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups medium-dice yellow onion
2 cups medium-dice green pepper
1 cup medium-dice celery
1 tablespoon McCormick’s Cajun Seasoning
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 quart canned tomatoes, chopped
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart cooked kidney beans
2 teaspoons Cholula hot sauce
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups ham, cut into 1-inch chunks
4 links Andouille sausage, sliced
SAFFRON RICE PILAF
2 cups basmati rice
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 3/4 cups water
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
Pinch cayenne or dash Cholula
Pinch salt
Pinch saffron
Freshly ground pepper
TO FINISH
8 eggs 3 tablespoons butter 1/4
cup finely sliced scallions
Directions
For the red beans: In a gallon pot, warm the canola oil over medium heat. Add the onions, green pepper and celery and a pinch of the Cajun seasoning. Toss to coat in the oil, and sauté 10 minutes until soft and lightly colored.
Add the garlic, cook 1 minute. Add the tomato, chicken broth, kidney beans, another pinch of Cajun seasoning, half the Cholula and Worcestershire sauce and the ham. Turn heat to low and simmer the red beans for about one hour, stirring occasionally, or until thick. Add the sausage, and cook another 10 minutes.
Add the remaining Cajun seasoning, Cholula and Worcestershire, cool and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
For the saffron rice pilaf: Place the uncooked rice in a small bowl and run cold water over the rice until the water runs clear. (This will yield fluffy, separate grains of rice). Drain well in a colander.
In a heavy bottomed 2-quart pot, heat the oil and butter over medium low heat. Add the onions and toss to coat with the fat. Cook the onions until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute without allowing it to brown.
Add the rice and stir to coat with the fat. Add the water, chicken broth, bay leaf, cayenne or Cholula, salt, and saffron. Bring the rice to a boil, turn the heat to low and cover. Cook the rice about 13 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit for about 4 minutes. Remove the cover. If you’re going to serve the rice immediately, gently fold in the pepper and additional salt if necessary. If you’re going to freeze or otherwise reheat the rice, turn it out onto a large sheet pan and fluff the rice with two forks. Cool and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
To finish: To assemble the dish, rewarm beans and rice in a microwave or low oven.
Break the eggs into a few small bowls (this can be done up to three hours ahead of time). Heat two nonstick pans over medium low heat and divide the butter between them. When the butter starts to melt but before it browns, slide the eggs into the two pans, turn down to low, and gently cook, spooning the butter over the yolk, just until set. Season with salt and pepper. Slide the eggs onto two plates. To separate the eggs, which may have cooked together, use a round cookie cutter to cut out the yolk along with a little bit of the white (I always do this when I cook a fried egg, since I much prefer the yolk to the white).
Divide the beans and rice between 8 bowls or serve in a large platter topped with the eggs and a little bit of scallion on top. Serve immediately.
