Feb 19, 2012
First, I want to say that this is as good (or better) than any red beans & rice that I've ever had. However, there were some red flags when I read the recipe, and although I don't like doing this the first time making a recipe, I did make some modifications. First, the beans are soaked overnight, so 3 qts of water is WAY too much. I used 2 qts, checked the beans at 1-1/2 hrs., and they were done (not four hours). Even with 2 qts of water, it still took close to two more hours to cook down the liquid to a serving consistency. The creole seasoning that I use is Tony Chachere's, and in looking at the ingredient listing, the first item was salt. IMO, you don't need 2 tbsp of salt. In fact, I didn't think it needed any and added no salt significantly reducing the sodium content. Creole seasoning is spicy, so again, I questioned 2 tbsp of pepper, and only added one. You can always add more if needed, but you can't take it out, so I wasn't going to risk messing up the entire dish. Please do NOT skip the creole seasoning, because I think it's the magic of this recipe. I also was concerned about four stalks of celery, so used three. I used Johnsonville Chicken Hardwood Smoked Sausage which worked perfectly and saved some fat and calories. Don't mean to be critical of this recipe because with these changes, this was five stars for us, but as written, only can give it four. I'll be interested to see what other reviewers have to say. Thanks Paige for sharing your recipe.
—lutzflcat
