Cajun Red Beans, Sausage and Rice Meal in a Jar (The 52 method continues)

Welcome to another food storage Monday!

By and far the most requested meal in a jar to date has been a good recipe for Red Beans, Sausage and Rice. You know...the basic Cajun dish that is used as a staple all over the southern USA...a basic.  Gourmet we do...basic...we do every single day. It wasn't a surprise when I posted the Louisiana Gumbo Meal in a Jar  recipe that the requests for the RB&R started pouring into the e-mail. So, I've heard your cries. I've gone with a basic recipe description from one of my friends here on the blog. She described her recipe as follows:

"The basic recipe I use has a pound of sausage (I use all beef kielbasa since Andoui is hard to find here in the wilds of West Texas), the trinity of onions, celery and bell peppers, and cajun seasoning. I saute the veggies in the fat leftover from cooking the sausage - don't know how you'd get around that in a 52 method recipe. Then I add a can (or two depending on how many I'm feeding) of red beans and the cajun seasonings. I do the rice separately. I have a favorite brand of red beans that I use and wondered if I could just dehydrate those since I like their flavor. I use the "goop" and all since it's flavored too."

All right. Here's what I came up with. Sausage being the main issue as far as I'm concerned it will be as close as you can get without using sausage in casing, but using the same seasoning as andouille sausage  in the beans. This is also a lower fat recipe the the typical pork sausage traditionally used in this dish.  You may need more spicy-heat or to tweak it as desired to your family's likes, but so far so good!  We have kids, so we have to make it a little milder than I think a few of you may be used to doing. Make it your own and enjoy! I get my ingredients for this dish from two sources.

• Special thanks to Chef Tess Thrive Life for the freeze-dried sausage, dehydrated celery, quick cook beans, rice and dehydrated celery. 
• Special thanks goes out to my friends at Firehousepantrystore.com for the special powdered ingredients and dehydrated bell peppers and minced garlic.

Cajun Red Beans,Sausage, and Rice

Bean mixture:

1/2 cup freeze-dried sausage  

1 ½ tsp dehydrated minced garlic

½ tsp black pepper

 2 tsp Hot Sauce Powder

1/2  tsp thyme

1 tsp smoked paprika

¼ tsp  dry rubbed sage

1/4 tsp Hickory Smoke Powder

1/3  cup dehydrated onion
1/2 cup dehydrated diced bell pepper

¼ cup dehydrated celery

1 cup quick cook red beans

1 tsp No MSG Chicken bouillon (autolyzed yeast extract is used)

Rice baggie (if you want to cook the rice separate from the beans):

1 cup long grain rice

2 T  Powdered butter (optional)

1 tsp salt

Jar directions:
Combine the sausage, garlic, pepper, hot sauce powder, thyme, paprika, sage, smoke powder, onion, bell pepper, celery, beans and bouillon in a quart jar. Top with a oxygen absorbers (learn all about oxygen absorbers) or seal with a Food Saver Vacuum Packing Jar Attachment).

Product details:
Firehousepantrystore.com has been a really great company to work with on getting specialty powdered items I can't find anywhere else. If I list something here on the blog for meals in a jar and you can't find it anywhere else, you can usually find it from them. They ship really fast as well!

 Chef Tess Thrive Life  is my favorite for bulk items.  Their quick cook red beans cook in 20 minutes and have an outstanding 10-15 year shelf life.

I prefer using the real freeze-dried sausage  .

I like to use the dehydrated celery in this meal. The price is right and the longer simmer gives it enough time to hydrate correctly. 

The find of the week has been this awesome Hot Sauce Powder! I also love sprinkling it on popcorn and homemade potato chips...but I digress. 

To prepare: Combine bean ingredients with 3 1/2 cups water and simmer on low 20-25 minutes until cooked and tender. In a separate pan combine rice ingredients with 2 cups water and simmer low, covered pan 20-25 minutes. OR if you cook the whole thing together, omit the use of the bag for the rice. Cook all ingredients together with 5 1/2 cups water for 20-25 minutes over low heat, covered. 

There you go. Our family's favorite red beans and rice.  Adjust as needed for your family's favorite flavor.




Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess