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This is tasty food, there's lots of it, and it's really cheap. It's also exceptionally versatile - you can put whatever you want in there, and it'll come out fine. I was contemplating trying this recipe with black beans, but won't until I finish this batch.
***
INGREDIENTS:
Light red beans, dry, 2 bags (~16oz/ea)
Celery (3-4 full stalks)
Onion (large; 1)
Green pepper, large, 1
Fresh garlic (4-6 medium-sized cloves)
Salt, herbs, spices (to taste)
Rice, 2 cups (appropriate proportion appears to be 1:~1.5 rice:water if you have a good rice cooker)
Kielbasa, pre-cooked, 2packages.
Cornmeal mix, 1 box
Half-and-half
Butter / vegetable oil
PREP:
Rinse and soak beans. I quick-soaked the beans - boil them for about 5 minutes, then let them sit for an hour and a half. They'll feel very firm when you remove them from the pot; this is normal.
While beans are soaking, wash, rinse and coarsely dice veggies. Sautee celery, then onion, garlic and green pepper, all in the same pan. Slice kielbasa into manageable chunks/slices; heat if you wish, but it's precooked. Set all aside.
BEANS:
Drain beans, then place in large pot. Add vegetables and kielbasa. Fill pot to perhaps an inch above the ingredients. Add spices to taste. Bring to a rolling boil (this will take a few minutes; be sure to stir) then cover and simmer on medium-low heat for about an hour and a half. Stir periodically (and thoroughly!) to keep things from burning on the bottom of the pot.
RICE:
Add rice to rice cooker. For every cup of rice you add, add 1.5 cups of water. Plug in rice cooker. Press "COOK." Wait 20 minutes. Poof, rice. If you don't have a rice cooker, go buy one, and come back. The beans will simmer just fine without you.
CORNBREAD:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine one box Jiffy cornbread mix, one egg, a tablespoon-ish of butter, and 1/3 to 1/2 cup of half-and-half. Mix well, then pour into appropriately-sized pan. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
***
AFTER-ACTION REPORT:
Beans absorb a lot of taste. A -lot-. I gave it probably two full tablespoons of Cholula hot sauce, a couple tablespoons of chili powder, an entire large onion, a third of a bottle of Labatt, and what I thought would be an obnoxious amount of garlic.
Result? A very mild pot of red beans. Not even a hint of garlic or onion. I'd be comfortable dicing the veggies more coarsely than I did, and doubling the veggies and spices. It -definitely- needed more than the couple tablespoons of salt I threw at it.
There was nothing wrong with it, but my house consumes its own weight in onions, garlic, hot sauce and chili powder on a monthly basis. If you're serving people of unknown heat/garlic tolerance, or you'd prefer to add flavor at the table? This'll do just fine. Otherwise, start adding taste liberally.
That said, the cornbread was absolutely brilliant and the rice was perfect (as per usual). So far we've had five bowls of red beans and rice and the pot shows no signs of stopping, bringing the cost per meal in well under $1/serving.
This was an success. Combine with liberal amounts of Tabasco and more cornbread for best results.
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Ye Olde Thread Revival!
 So the Slow Z is out of the garage, and the Fast Z is in. Timelines never quite happen like you want, and several things interjected themselves between me and finishing this build. But, here we are. I'm starting the post-mortem on this motor, and it doesn't look particularly happy. One hour, forty-five minutes to go from fully assembled, to the condition in which you see it now:  ( Pictures are largeish; you have been warned. )The spark plugs are numbered 1 3 5 on the passenger side (5 being the furthest back), and 2 4 6 on the driver's side. The threads of #5 are entirely coated with oil, and the insulator on #1 is a little crispy. Knowing that cylinders 3 and 5 tend to be the first to detonate in VG motors, initial eval suggests moderate detonation on cylinder 5 leading to damaged rod bearing. Cylinder heads coming out on the next episode, and after that the block comes out. While the heads are being cleaned and worked, I'll be replacing rear brakes, that fender, and generally cleaning up the car. * FLICKR: Fast Z Revival Set; 6 photos, full-sized. To be continued. :D Tags: z
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California Black Bean BurgersThese are tasty meat-substitute patties. When cooked, the ideal patty will be crispy on the outside, and soft and hot on the inside. The basic idea: Drain canned black beans, put 'em through the food processor (read: blender), add spices, and then mix with egg, bread crumbs, coat with cornmeal and cook. The recipes for these are almost universally crap. They don't include enough binder, or too much egg, or not enough oil. So here's an effective, works-every-time California Black Bean Burger recipe: - 1 15oz can black beans - 2ish cups of bread crumbs (this will necessarily vary, but more is good) - Egg (one) - One bottle vegetable oil. You won't use it all, but you don't want to run out. - 2+ tsp chili powder - One small onion, or a small green pepper (or both!) - Cornmeal, approx. 1-2 cups Drain beans. This is important, and if you forget to do it... well, you'll just have to add more bread crumbs later. Blend beans in food processor or blender. Add chili powder and any other desired spices at this time. Note that two tsp of chili powder and a few squirts of Tabasco will add color, but not much taste. It'll take perhaps double to cut through into the final taste. Beat egg and combine with black beans in a bowl. Dice onion, peppers and whatever else you want in the patties finely, and add to the mix. Here's the important part: Add bread crumbs. Do not underestimate how easily these patties will fall apart. Using japanese bread crumbs may've made a difference, but I ended up needing approximately two and a half cups of bread crumbs before I was confident that the mixture would hold its shape. Form mixture into patties. This mix will make four solid patties between .75in and 1.0in thick; make them too thin, and they'll break apart. Too thick, and they won't cook through (raw egg is not tasty). Coat patties well with cornmeal. They should slide around easily on any surface you care to slide them across, including the cutting board. Add oil to pan, and put on medium to medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add patties to pan. Cook evenly for 5-7 minutes, flip once, and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Keep pan well oiled to avoid burning. Remove patties, and serve with appropriate burger-like accessories. These also work well with salsa and other spicy additives. These refrigerate surprisingly well.
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