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Vargr's spicy Sausage, Red beans, and Rice - Pressure Cooker version
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 Posted: Sat Oct 16th, 2010 09:40 pm
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Vargr
Vargr


Joined: Tue Jun 7th, 2005
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
Posts: 5009
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Wuff has had problems properly cooking legumes, beans and lentils and the like, at his altitude. 6000 feet just didn't allow the dishes to boil at high enough temperature to make the beans turn out any more tender than the far side of "al dente", no matter how long they cooked. And such prolonged cooking tended to wreak havoc on other items in the disk.

So, as a birthday present to himself, Vargr bought a very nice pressure cooker set  Came with an 8qt and 4qt pan, a 15PSI pressure lid, extra glass lid, and a trivet and steamer basket.  To test it out for the first "christening trial run", wuff figured he'd make up a batch of dried beans, and the recipe below followed.

Going with a general "sort of Cajon" variation on Red Beans, these have a nice level of spice, and finished up with LOADS of flavor! Now, because wuff substituted Chorizo and took the spicy Italian sausage out of the casing, the pressure cooker reduced them to tiny, soft, and tender bits that virtually disappeared into the beans. Using some sausage that stays chunkier would add more texture, for those who like it. But the flavor profile of this turned out very nice despite that.

For folks in lower altitudes, this might work in slow cooker or stove top as well.  Some suggestions given at the end. But the Pressure Cooker version of it worked so well that wuff would strongly recommend searching out a good sale and checking into getting one of your own!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zesty sausage, red beans and rice - pressure cooker version

1 lb dried red beans
"lotsa" water

1 Link ("hot-dog" sized, about 4 oz) of hot Italian Sausage
1 lb pork Chorizo sausage
1 Smoked pork neck bone (about 1/3 - 1/2 pound with bones, etc. Not much meat but LOTS of flavor!)
1 heirloom"purple" Bell Pepper (substitute a red bell pepper)
1 Poblano pepper
1 med-large Jalapeno pepper
1 large green Anaheim pepper
1 med yellow Onion
1 tbsp minced (dried) Garlic
2+ tsp dried Sage
2 tsp Celery seed
1 tsp ground Thyme
1/2 tsp fresh Rosemary leaves, minced very fine
1 tsp ground Black pepper
1 tsp ground Cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp "Chicken Base" paste (can substitute chicken bouillon powder/cubes)
1 Qt packaged Chicken broth/stock
2-3 Tbsp good Olive Oil

2.5 Cups "Minute" instant Rice (approximate)

"Sort" the dried red beans and discard stones and "bad" beans.  Soak the red beans in hot tap water for about 3-4 hours. Drain, and soak again for about 2-3 minutes in fresh water, swishing them around a bit with your hand. Pour off water.

Remove the sausage from the skins (if not using 'bulk' ground versions) and break up into chunks over the beans.

Dice the onion and add to beans.

Top and core the various peppers. Dice the larger (Anaheim, Poblano, etc) and mince the Jalapeno. Add to pot.

Add the spices, Olive oil, and the chicken broth/stock.  Add the "chicken soup base paste" or bouillon and add 2 Cups Hot (tap) water. (Note, you can substitute 2 more cups of chicken stock for the water and "chicken soup base".  If you do, add 1-2 tsp of salt to make up for the lack of salt from the bouillon/base.)

Stir everything around to mix and distribute.

Add the smoked pork neck bone and nestle it down into the beans and veg liquid.

PRESSURE COOKER METHOD:
Put the top on the cooker, make sure it is sealed and "locked on" depending on your model.
Set heat to high/medium-high.
Allow to heat at high temperature until your model "triggers" or otherwise indicates it has reached operating pressure (The Fagor "Splendid" model "trips" the release under the handle-mounted switch and gusts a strong stream of steam that gradually diminishes.)

Immediately reduce heat to the "steady point" for your unit.  Wuff's Fagor will maintain a gentle, nearly silent hiss of steam at med-low on his electric range.

(Vargr recommends that those like this wuff who are new to pressure cookers test your unit out, if you haven't used it much, with just plain water until you can figure out the settings which boil things up to pressure quickly, and maintain pressure without the heat falling too low to 'cork off" the steam flow again. Too much heat can scorch the bottom of the food and boil away the liquid (and flavors in it).  Too little, and the unit could drop back below its pressure 'set point' and under-cook your meal.)

Once the unit is at its "pressure set", start your timer.  Wuff's Fagor unit operates at 15PSI. For Vargr's altitude (6,000 ft), this worked out to about 20 minutes at "cooking pressure".  Lower altitudes (under about 2500 ft) would cut this back a minute or two. Lower pressure units (12 or 9PSI) would increase the cooking time. Consult your manual for more details.

When the timer rings, turn the stove off.  If cooking on electric, you may also want to remove the cooker to a cool burner. !!!BE CAREFUL not to slosh it around while moving it!!!

Allow it to set and cool naturally for at least 10 minutes.

Release pressure in your unit, according to it's directions.

Remove top and check the results. If beans are still too tough, you can either boil them a bit in the open pan, or put the top back on and re-pressurize and pressure-cook for another 3-4 minutes.  Wuff's beans were soft and tender at this point, so there was no need.

Remove the pork neck bone (CAREFUL! HOT!) Strip the meat off and put it back in the pot. Toss out the bones or offer them to your fav pooch. :-)

Taste (careful, HOT) and adjust salt and pepper if needed.

[There was a LOT of liquid left in wuff's pot at this point, so Vargr made the instant rice right in the cooker to soak up the yummy flavors.]

Put the cooker back on the burner, but keep the lid off. Bring to slow boil over medium heat.

Add instant Rice. Wuff used about 2.5 cups.

(NOTE: This seemed about the right amount, immediately after preparing it - there was still a bit of liquid floating about for a somewhat "loose" mix.  However, after letting the finished result sit on the stove at "warm" for a while, the rice soaked up ALL the liquid. It was still juicy, not dry, but there was no free liquid left. If you like more "juiciness", you may wish to cut back on the rice somewhat.)

Stir the rice in once, then cover and remove the cooker from heat. Allow the rice to complete its cooking cycle (about 10 minutes).

Return to very low heat to keep mixture warm. Stir and serve to hungry friends and family! *GRINS*

Finished results made about 4 Quarts. So it's going to feed a BUNCH of folks. But it should also refrigerate and freeze very well, and will certainly re-heat well in a microwave (though might want a wee bit more liquid added during the re-heating phase).

ENJOY!

Last edited on Sat Oct 16th, 2010 09:44 pm by Vargr



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