Red beans & rice (mickler)

Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients:

2 lb Dried red kidney beans
2 c Chopped yellow onions
1 bn Of scallions chopped
3 Or 4 finely sliced cloves -of garlic
1 bn Parsley (chopped)
3 lb Smoked sausage * Salt and pepper to taste
3 qt Of cold water

Instructions:

* cut into 2 inch lengths (smoked ham or ham bone works fine) I just made no-fat refried beans last night completely by accident. I was making this recipe and discovered it in the process. Soak beans overnight if possible. Drain water and add beans to a large 8- or 10-quart pot. Then add enough of the cold water to cover the beans. Add chopped yellow onions and garlic and bring to a boil. Cook for one hour and add all the other things and more water if necessary. Simmer (slight bubbling action) for 2 more hours or until the beans are soft. Then remove 2 cups of cooked beans without juice and mash very good. Then return the mashed up beans to the pot and stir into the mixture. This makes a creamy thicker gravy. If the beans are too dry add enough water to make them like you like them. Good over boiled rice. Serves 8. If you're in New Orleans on a Monday this is the only thing you can eat. From "White Trash Cooking" Ernest Matthew Mickler. Ten Speed Press 1986. ISBN 0-89815-189-9. When I got to the point where you take the two cups beans out and mash 'em I put them in the food processor to puree. They came out smelling and tasting just like refried beans. The texture was a tad thin but that could be remedied easily. You could probably even re- fry them in a non-stick skillet to reduce the water content. I used skin-on ham hocks to make this batch of beans but you could easily leave that out and still come up with something close to what you want I think. Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; August 27 1992.