Red Beans & Rice Monday Again!

[SigNate]

It's Monday again here in Louisiana but our Monday's are more than the beginning of the work week. WE celebrate our Mondays by enjoying Red Beans and Rice as a traditional meal be it for lunch or dinner and quite possibly even breakfast. Heck cooked right they're good any time of day or night. For us in my household we like to cook our Red Beans on Sunday so they can sit and allow the wonderful flavors to meld and intensify.
That's why yesterday I cooked five glorious pounds of those delectable legumes.
It helps to start of with a good quality bean. Here's a four pound bag of the best and I had another one pound bag of the same brand I decided to add after I took this picture.

Here after picking through the beans for bad ones or pebbles the beans get a bath of cool water to sit in overnight for a nice soaking. This actually started Saturday night.

Sunday morning I drained the beans and set them aside.

I always enjoy cutting up the sausages, tasso and andouille.

I got to use that chopper I got a few weeks back. Used it to chop the onions and celery.

Time to get started cooking. Browning the sausage!

Adding the andouille and diced tasso really makes the whole house smell fantastic!

Now time to cook the seasonings til clear and tender which are the usual.... celery, bell peppers, diced onions, and minced garlic.

After combining everything and letting it simmer for however long it takes for the beans to get tender they're almost done.

Letting them cool down and putting them away until today is kinda difficult. I mean of course I have to taste them to make sure they're done and properly seasoned but this batch came out REALLY delicious(at least in my opinion and I'm my worst critic).
This morning I packed four containers of beans along with rice and I even grilled some of my homemade Italian and cajun sausages to serve as a side even though I put right at nine pounds of tasso, andouille and smoked sausage in the beans. And I sent close to a one gallon container to a friend and his family for dinner tonight. They do love my Red Beans!!!
Now tonight it my time to cozy up to the table and enjoy my own masterpiece of cooking along with some of those very same Cajun and Italian sausages hot off the grill, some oven warmed and buttered Italian twist bread and an icy cold Abita Andygator.

I forgot to mention the smothered cabbage as a side dish.

All I can say is that these were the BEST Red Beans I have ever cooked. Creamy and smokey with just the perfect amount of seasonings and spice.