This brunch dish from Commander’s Palace executive chef Meg Bickford features Camellia Red Kidney Bean purée with pickled pork, Savoie’s Smoked Andouille Sausage and Cajun Country Rice cakes, soft poached hen’s eggs, and smoked tasso hollandaise.
Eggs Louis Armstrong “Red Beans & Ricely Yours”
Author: Recipe courtesy of Meg Bickford, Commander’s Palace
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 medium yellow onions, small diced, divided
- 1½ green bell peppers, small diced, divided
- 15 cloves garlic, minced, divided
- 2 stalks celery, small diced
- 1½ jalapeños, seeded, small diced
- ½ pound dried Camellia Red Kidney Beans
- ½ pound Savoie’s Pickled Pork, ground or small diced, soaked overnight and rinsed
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1¾ quarts chicken stock, divided
- 1 small shallot (onion may be substituted), small diced
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 cup Cajun Country Popcorn Rice
- 1¼ cups warm water
- ½ pound Savoie’s Smoked Andouille Sausage®, small diced
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 to 2 dashes Crystal Hot Sauce
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 12 poached eggs
- 1 cup hollandaise with small-diced tasso
- Garnish: biased-cut green onions
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large heavy pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter over high heat. Add half of the yellow onions, half of the bell pepper, half of the garlic, celery, and jalapeño. Decrease heat to medium and cook until onions begin to turn opaque. Add red beans, pickled pork, 1 bay leaf, and 1½ quarts of chicken stock to pot and bring to a simmer. Cook beans until tender, about 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
- In a 2-quart saucepot, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add shallot and sweat until translucent, stirring regularly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to pan and allow it to heat before adding 1 cup of Cajun Country Popcorn Rice and remaining bay leaf. Stir rice, letting rice gently fry in the fat until the rice starts to turn opaque. Be careful not to let the rice stick to the bottom of the pot. Add 1¼ cups warm water to the pot and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat off and place lid over rice for 25 minutes. Uncover rice and fluff with a fork.
- In a heavy-bottomed pot, add 1 tablespoon butter and diced Savoie sausage; cook over high heat until fat is rendered and sausage is golden brown. Add remaining yellow onions, remaining bell pepper, and remaining garlic; cook until onions begin to turn opaque. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon flour and stir until flour is incorporated.
- Add rice and ½ cup chicken stock to sausage mixture and cook on low for 2 to 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Add remaining ½ cup stock if your mix is too tight. You want your cakes to hold
- their shape—they should not be wet, and all stock should be absorbed. Spread rice and sausage mixture on a baking sheet and let cool completely in the refrigerator.
- Season beans with hot sauce and paprika to taste. Allow beans to cool slightly before handling. With a hand blender or in the container a blender or work bowl of a food processor, purée beans to sauce consistency. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Pickled pork will add a lot of flavor, so it is best not to add salt until the end.
- Remove chilled rice mixture from the refrigerator. Portion into 6 rectangles. Dust rice cakes generously with flour.
- In a nonstick skillet or well-season pan, melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter and remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over high heat, about 2 minutes. Be sure you have enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan. Place rice cakes in the pan and cook until they start to become brown and crisp, about 2½ minutes. Reduce heat if they are browning too quickly. Turn cakes over and brown until golden brown, crispy, and hot in the center, 2 minutes.
- To serve, pool red bean purée in the center of a warm shallow entrée bowl. Place rice cake in the center of the purée. Using your thumb, make indentations in the cake to hold eggs. Place two poached eggs on top of each cake and cover eggs with tasso hollandaise. Garnish with green onion, if desired.
Notes
This recipe has not been tested by the Hoffman Media test kitchen