https://easykitchenguide.com/cheddars-red-beans-and-rice-recipe/Cheddars Red Beans and Rice Recipe
Make I tell you wetin happen last week Saturday
I get catering job for Surulere. Birthday party. 70 people. The woman wey hire me specifically request red beans and rice because she taste am for one wedding wey I cook for her cousin.
So I wake up 4am. I check my beans wey I soak since Thursday night. E dey swell well well. Soft. Ready. I put the pot for fire. My assistant wey suppose help me no show. This boy just call me 5:30 say im bike don spoil for Mile 2. I nearly throw my phone.
So I dey cook this thing alone, under pressure, for 70 people. And the whole time I dey cook, I dey remember every mistake I don make for the past 18 years. Because trust me, I don spoil this recipe many times before I master am.
The first time I ever cook am
- I just start my catering business. Small small. I get one client wey ask me to cook red beans and rice. I say “yes” without even knowing how to cook am properly.
I buy canned beans. I open am. I pour the whole thing including the water wey dey inside the can. I add rice directly inside the same pot. I cook everything together. Salt? Small. Seasoning? I forget.
The thing wey come out na gray paste. No color. No flavor. The beans dey hard. The rice dey mushy. The client call me and say “Chef, wetin be this?” I wanted to sink inside the ground.
That night I go my mama house. I tell her wetin happen. My mama wey be real cook from Enugu just laugh. She say “Nwoke, you think say cooking na magic? You must learn the basics.” She teach me the Trinity that day. Onion, green pepper, celery. She say without those three, your beans na beans, not red beans and rice.
That lesson saved my career.
The beans argument wey never end
See, Nigerians and beans get long history. Some people say you must use dried beans. Some people say canned beans dey alright. Me? I use both. But e depend.
If I get time, like for this Surulere party wey I do last week, I use dried red kidney beans. I soak am overnight. By morning, the beans don swell and become soft. When e cook, e break down slowly and make the sauce thick and creamy. That creamy texture na the thing wey make people dey lick the plate.
But if I no get time, or if I forget to soak (which happens plenty), I use canned beans. Three cans. Drain the water wey dey inside. Rinse am well because that canned water get metal taste wey fit spoil the whole thing. Then I just cook am for 30 minutes. E no reach the same level as dried beans, but e fit save your life when you dey rush.
My mama used to say “Dried beans na wife. Canned beans na girlfriend. Both fit do the job, but only one go give you peace of mind.” She get way with words, that woman.
The Trinity wey be my foundation
Onion. Green bell pepper. Celery.
If you no get celery for your area, abeg go look for am. Sometimes for Lagos, celery dey hard to find or e dey expensive. But na the celery dey give that special flavor wey make the thing taste like something else. Without celery, your beans go taste like every other beans. With celery, e go get that Louisiana feel wey Cheddar’s dey famous for.
I chop my Trinity rough. Not fine. I no be TV chef. The heat go break am down anyway. One cup of each. Sometimes if the onions big, I use one big onion. If e small, I use two. Cooking na by feeling, not by measuring.
The sausage matter wey dey sensitive
You know wetin surprise me? The first time I taste Cheddar’s red beans and rice for real, I notice the sausage wey dem use dey smoky but e no dey too spicy. Na andouille sausage. But for Nigeria, andouille no dey common. So wetin I do? I use any smoked sausage wey I see.
One time I use those big sausages wey dem dey sell for ShopRite. The ones wey dem hang for display. E work. Another time I use the ones wey dey come in can. Also work. But the one wey work best na the ones wey I go to butcher and ask am to smoke specially for me.
The key na smoke. No matter the sausage, make sure e be smoked sausage. The smoke flavor na wetin make the beans dey taste like you spend hours for kitchen. If you use plain sausage wey no smoke, e no go hit the same.
The spice thing wey I learn the hard way
I don burn my tongue many times because I add too much cayenne pepper. I don also serve bland beans because I dey fear to add seasoning. The balance dey important.
My go-to seasoning na Tony Chachere’s. The one wey dey red and white container. But I add extra smoked paprika. Why? Because the paprika give am red color wey make the beans look like e cook for hours. And e add extra smoke flavor.
The trick wey nobody tell you: fry the seasoning for oil before you add water. Just one minute. Let the oil carry the flavor. If you just pour seasoning inside water, e go float on top and no go blend. Frying am first make the whole pot taste the seasoning, not just the surface.
The garlic situation
Fresh garlic only. No garlic powder. If I catch you using garlic powder for my kitchen, I go send you to go and chop onions for one hour as punishment.
Four cloves minimum. Crush am with the flat side of your knife. The crushing release the oil inside the garlic. Chop am rough. Add am to the oil after the Trinity don soften. Cook am for one minute. If e change color from white to brown, you don burn am. Burned garlic na bitter. Start again.
Wetin I do when I dey cook for 70 people
For that Surulere party, I use two big pots. Each pot carry about 5 cups of dried beans. The pots heavy like anything. I fry my Trinity for each pot separately. I add my sausage. I add my seasoning. I pour chicken broth. Then I bring to boil and reduce heat.
Then I leave am. That’s the hardest part. When you dey cook for 70 people, you want to check the pot every minute. You want to stir. You want to make sure nothing dey burn. But if you keep opening the pot, the steam escape and the cooking slow down. You just need to trust the process.
I check am after one hour. Stir small. Check the bottom make sure nothing dey stick. Then cover am again. After one and half hours, e ready.
But the secret move wey I do: ten minutes before serving, I take my big wooden spoon and I mash some beans against the side of the pot. Just some. Not all. The starch from the mashed beans thicken the sauce. Without this step, the beans dey swim for water. With this step, the sauce dey cling to the rice like e suppose to do.
The rice wey I almost spoil
The first time I cook this thing for a party, I mix the beans and rice together inside the big warmer. Big mistake. By the time the party start, the rice don soak all the sauce and the whole thing become one mushy mess. People dey scoop am and e dey drop like pap.
Now I keep the rice separate. I cook am in a different pot. Long grain white rice. Plain. No seasoning because the beans get all the flavor. When the rice done, I fluff am with fork and let am breathe.
When I dey serve, I put rice for plate, then I spoon the beans and sausage on top. The sauce flow down and cover the rice. That’s the way.
Wetin happen after the party
The Surulere party finish. The woman wey hire me come to my kitchen area. She say “Chef, my people dey ask who cook this beans. Dem say na the best dem don ever taste.”
I smile. I thank her. But inside my head, I dey remember that 2006 disaster. The journey from gray paste to this moment. The burnt pots. The undercooked beans. The overseasoned pots wey make people mouth dey fire. The times I almost give up.
But cooking na like that. You fail. You learn. You fail again. You learn again. Eventually, you become the person wey people dey call when dem want good food.
The things wey nobody tell you
This food taste better the next day. I mean am. Cook am, cool am, put am for fridge. The next day, reheat am with small water. The flavor go deep pass the day you cook am.
If you use dried beans, make sure your beans no too old. Old beans no fit soften no matter how long you cook am. I learn this one when I use beans wey dey my kitchen for two years. The thing remain hard even after four hours. I nearly cry.
Taste your food while you dey cook. I know e get raw taste. But you go know if e need salt or pepper or seasoning. If you wait until the end to taste, e fit be too late to fix am.
Don’t crowd the pot. Beans need space to cook properly. If you fill the pot to the brim, the beans for bottom go cook, the ones for top go remain hard. Leave room.
My kitchen rules for this recipe
- Brown the sausage first. The fat wey come out na flavor.
- Fry the seasoning inside oil. Don’t add am to water.
- Mash some beans at the end. This one na the secret to thick sauce.
- Keep rice and beans separate until serving.
- Cook the day before if possible. The flavor go thank you.
The question wey I dey ask every person wey cook this thing
Now I don tell you everything. The good, the bad, the embarrassing. All my failures. All the lessons.
The question wey I get for you be this: You go use andouille sausage or you go use regular smoked sausage? Because the answer go determine the kind of smoke wey go dey your beans.
And the second question: You go add cheese on top or you go leave am plain? Me? I add cheese. But I want hear your own.
Make I hear from you. Because cooking na conversation. You talk your own, I talk my own. Together we go cook better.
