The wife requested some good old fashion creamy New Orleans style red beans and rice with andouille sausage. As a side I stuffed with pepper jack cheese. I decided to plate it a little differently by stuffing it in some bell peppers and baking it in the oven for a little bit.

First task make some Andouille. I decided to try some pepper jack in some of it to change it up a bit. I used high temperature cheese so it wouldn’t melt out, I am not sure if I could have cooked it in the beans as well, I didn’t try.

A pair of nice butts… Because who does not like a nice butt. I took the fat cap off so I could grind it a little finer than I did the meat. Used a three-quarter inch plate on the meat and a half inch plate on the fat to get that traditional course andouille texture.

I took the cubed up meat and threw it in the freezer to firm up and then ground it up. My choice of seasonings for this project. Other than the curing salt I went at 2% of the weight of the meat. I only used one of the butts for this that was around 9 pounds cleaned up. Made one passed through the grinder, added to seasoning, and mixed it all up adding a little water until I got the texture that I needed. Then I let it cure overnight in the fridge before stuffing.

The next night it was time to stuff it up. I used some beef round casing that I was able to get from my neighbor. I pulled out a couple pounds to mix in some pepper jack cheese. Once I had it stuffed I put it in the fridge for another night so the casing could dry off.

The next night was the smoke show. I used pecan and smoked at 150° for 6hrs. Once I hit the temperature I wanted I pulled it off and into an ice bath to cool and help stay plump. Then into the fridge to wait for the beans.

I like to render pork belly for the oil to cook my vegetables in. I don’t like to brown the sausage first because I don’t put it in until the last 30 minutes or so. I find if I put it in the beginning all the flavor cooks out and I am left with tasteless sausage. Take that pork belly and render it down in a pan for a couple hours. I rinse and soak my beans (4lbs) so maybe there is less gas

Cooking day

My little blind dude loves cooking day. When he smells it he heads for right between my feet looking for what I drop....sometimes I drop on purpose

I used three onions, three bell peppers, five sticks of celery, some fresh parsley, and a bunch of garlic. For my liquid I like to use chicken stock although I needed a little bit of water because one box turned out to be turkey stock.

Drop that pork fat into the pan and cook the crunchy vegetables down until dark and tender. Then I start the de glazing process with a stick of butter and that is when I put in the parsley and garlic.

Once the vegetables are ready I’ll put a little bit of stock to deglaze the pan. Once I get everything up I fill her up with the rest of the stock, beans and smoked pork shank. I usually use two for this dish but with the smoked Andouille I decided to try it with just one. I would probably still use two next time.

Now we let it simmer for about three hours. I season a long the way with whatever kind of seasoning I use. This time I tried something new since it is made in New Orleans and it has chicken on the front. So chicken this is for you if you read these post

After about three hours the pork shank is starting to get a little tender. So this is where I add my sausage. I took the casing off which I am glad I did sliced it up and dropped it on in.

The pork shank tells me when it is done. When it needs to be removed carefully with pieces falling off and all of the meat comes off the bone clean it is time. I throw the meat back into the dish and let it cook for a few more minutes for the flavors to mix.

This time I decided to stuff and some bell peppers. While it was different and not bad I just prefer a plate of red beans and rice. I heated up the pepper jack cheese Andouille on the grill and used it as a side dish.

As always thanks for watching