Genet Hogan was raised on a roux. The native New Orleanian now lives in Northern Georgia with her husband and three children. However, she is keeping that New Orleans heritage alive by passing on the traditions even though they are over 500 miles away.
She’s also passing on the culinary tradition of her family with her successful blog, RAISED ON A ROUX, where there are hundreds of recipes from the traditional New Orleans meals, Crawfish Mac ‘n’ Cheese, to Grill Ranch Chicken, Loaded Baked Potato Salad, along with tips for making a roux and a popular Finger Food Friday series. With the blog, she’s able to honor her “ancestors by preparing their recipes and passing them on,” along with sharing the fact that “no matter where you are, you can be a New Orleanian.” And that passion and wisdom shines through in her blog.
As the blog grew, Genet wanted to expand more on the unique customs of New Orleans that has made it one of the top destinations in the world. She started RAISED ON A ROUX the magazine to celebrate the Crescent City. The magazine, which is available on iTunes and for Android devices, is dedicated to family recipes, food traditions and life lessons from her New Orleans family. It’s a deeper look into her New Orleans kitchen – the place where you “share yourself with others by inviting them to your table for a home-cooked meal.”
I asked the popular food blogger, Genet Hogan, “How Do You Red Bean?”
1. Where’s your favorite place to order red beans and rice?
My favorite place to order Red Beans and Rice is at Popeye’s (the fast food fried chicken and biscuit franchise that began in New Orleans). They make the creamiest beans in town. No trip home is complete without hitting the Popeye’s drive-through at least once.
2. Do you put any unique ingredients in your pot of red beans? Do you prefer dried or canned beans?
I will not make a pot of red beans without Camellia Brand dried red kidney beans, the Holy Trinity (the Creole mirepoix of chopped onions, celery and green bell peppers) and pickle meat (brined pork shoulder also known as pickled pork). I also always throw in some type of smoked pork sausage. And let me share a little bit of dried red bean wisdom with you. My maternal grandmother believed, and I wholeheartedly agree, that the lighter (pinker) the beans the creamier the pot. So I always rummage through the store shelves and pick out the pinkest pounds of Camellia red beans I can find.
3. What do you eat with red beans and rice?
All that’s needed to round out my Red Beans and Rice meal is plenty of buttered French bread (for wiping the plate clean) and a few hits of Louisiana Hot Sauce.
4. Do you only eat red beans and rice on traditional Mondays or any day of the week?
I used to hold firm to the Monday tradition. But since moving to Atlanta, I cook and eat Red Beans and Rice whenever I long for the comforts of home.
5. What are you currently working on?
Right now, I’m working on moving my family back to New Orleans. My husband and I were trying to make that happen before this current school year began, but our timeframe was a bit too ambitious. So now we’re setting our sights on the summer of 2015, which will mark 20 years away from home–way too long!
In the meantime, I’ll be expanding the “Lagniappe” section of my website to include a running list of my favorite places to eat, drink and be merry. I’m also in the process of publishing another edition of Raised on a Roux, the Magazine, a fun extension of my website that’s available on the Apple newsstand for iPad, iPhone and Android users.
Stop by RaisedOnARoux.com and follow Genet’s wonderful blog. You can also find her on Twitter @raisedonaroux, Facebook, and in the iTunes Newsstand Store with her magazine.
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I have probably given out this red bean crock pot recipe dozens of times. It's pretty traditional. When I worked at Popeyes' corporate in New Orleans, we put together an employee cook book and my recipe was included. And when I moved to Houston and I worked for NATCO we put out an employee cookbook and I got emails of many people who loved this recipe.
If it’s Monday in New Orleans, then there are thousands of households and restaurants with a big pot of red beans simmering on the stove. There are as many recipes for red beans as there are for gumbo. This one is my family favorites, based
off of a common New Orleans recipe with a few changes my family made. My wife
had never had real New Orleans red beans and rice until she had
my recipe. Now, if we don’t have pickle meat, we don’t do red beans.
Ingredients:
1 lb Camellia Red Beans
(Pretty much available at most large grocery chains)
1 lb Andouille sausage
(or Chappell Hill venison and pork
sausage or good smoked sausage)
1 lb pickled pork (pickled meat) Optional
except at my house. (Savoie’s available at HEB) or at Cajun Grocer
1 large onion chopped
1 large green bell pepper chopped
1 whole garlic minced (yeah ya gotta have the garlic)
4 ribs of celery chopped
3 bay large bay leaves
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tbs. salt
1 tbs. Cajun Seasoning
1- 8 Oz. can of tomato sauce (gives it more body and taste)
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
Cooking Instructions
Pickle pork, or pickle meat is only available in Louisiana. Savoie and Richards puts
it out and I like Savoie’s better. It can be ordered online from Cajun Grocer,
but it’s expensive. Mostly the shipping. Order a dozen or so and it's not
too bad. Usually though, I just wait to go home, and get a dozen packs or so.
Pickle pork is very lean pork that has been pickled. It was a way of preservation
before refrigeration. Not to be confused with salted pork. My mother and both
my grandmother’s used both sausage and pickled pork in their red beans.
I have a little measuring spoon trio that measures a pinch, dash, and a smidgen. A
pinch is between a dash and a smidgen, with a smidgen being the smallest
measurement of the three.
Dash- 1/8 teaspoon
Pinch- 1/16 teaspoon
Smidgen- 1/32 teaspoon
The Night Before
Cut pickled pork in 1 inch cubes and brown in 1 tsp. olive oil. Put in bowl for storage over night.Leave the pan drippings for the next step.
Sweat vegetables in the olive oil and pork drippings with a bay leaf. While the veggies are cooking, and there is plenty of water in the pan, deglaze the pan by
scraping the brown deliciousness from the pickled pork from the bottom. If
not using pickled port, sweat vegetables in 2 tablespoons of olive oil
until almost dry. Season with 3 or four grinds of fresh black pepper, ½ tsp. of salt and 1 tsp. of Cajun seasoning or to taste.
Slice the Andouille or smoked sausage into ½ inch rounds and put in the bowl with the rest of the seasoning and pickle meat or smoked ham.
Put the sweated vegetables in the bowl covered, in fridge overnight (with the pickled pork if using it)
Get out the crock pot.Wash beans in and remove any debris and bad beans.
Put the beans in the crock pot and just cover with water. Stir in ½ tsp. of salt, 1 to 3 grinds of black pepper and a ½ tsp. of Cajun Seasoning, and place 1 bay leaf in
the water. Do not soak for more than 10 hours.
The Next Morning
Turn the crock pot on high. Get the bowl of vegetables and meat out of the
fridge and put into the crock pot. Add the 8 oz. of tomato sauce and add
water until up to the rim. Best to put the crock pot on a quarter baking
sheet with sides to catch the run over once the pot begins to boil.
Cook on high for 4 – 6 hours, after which, reduce
to low until the beans are tender. Keep water level near the top. Recycle
the water that overflows onto the baking sheet.
Taste and adjust seasoning as desired
Cook 2 to 2 and ½ cups of long grain rice. I like to have enough for
leftovers. (If any!)
Seasoning I don’t like to over season my food. I put enough seasoning to suite the taste of the person who least likes a lot of seasoning: just a slight after-burn. Then, I put the peppers in vinegar, and Cajun Seasoning on the table with the pepper and salt. You want it more seasoned, then you do it your self at the table. I cook with what
taste kids will eat; because if the kids like it, they will continue the custom
and you have another easy meal that feeds a lot!
Serve over steaming white rice with French bread, or garlic
bread, and a nice green salad. Serves about 6 to 8.