Doc's Red Beans and Sausage

* Exported from MasterCook *

Doc's Red Beans and Sausage

Recipe By : Doc Braswell, Meridian Council - _Bell's Best_
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Main Dishes

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 lb dry kidney beans
1 1/2 lb smoked sausage, preferably spicy -- up to 2 pounds
1 cup chopped celery
1 lg bell pepper -- chopped
2 medium onion -- chopped
5 cloves garlic -- chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 bay leaves
pinch oregano
pinch thyme

Soak beans overnight or 3 -4 hours. Wash beans and place in large pot (4
quarts) that can be covered. Add water, approximately 3 pints to 2 quarts.
Cut sausage into 1 inch pieces (crosswise on the tube) and add to beans.
(If the sausage is very fat, cook separately for about 5 minutes in boiling
water and drain before adding to beans. ) Bring beans and sausages to boil;
add chopped vegetables and spices. Cook 3-4 hours, covered, over low heat
until beans are tender. Add water as needed. Add salt and red pepper to
taste. The amount needed will depend on spices in sausage and your
individual taste. Remove and crush 4 or 5 large servings spoons of beans
and return to pot to thicken soup. Add water as necessary to provide for a
soupy texture. Serve over fluffly rice with garlic bread and green salad.

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NOTES : I do not use the given amount of chili powder. I am one of those
rare individuals who does not care for the taste of chili powder, go figure!
Instead I use lots of crushed red peppers. This is a wonderful recipe,
makes lots and keeps well. I make it every winter and especially around the
holidays.

I got the recipe and the cookbook when my best friend and I visited her
parents in Gautier, MS. The office of the Telephone Pioneers of America,
Mississippi Chapter No. 36 was in downtown Pascagaula, (sp??) a town which
I thought had been made up by Ray Stevens in his song, "The Mississippi
Squirrel Revival."