Bean Soup

Cook time : 6 to 8 hrs

Serves : 12 people in soup bowls; enough for next day course if only serving 6 people or less

Serve on top a mound (1/2 cup to a cup) of Louisiana or S. Carolina rice

Ingredients/Ingrédients Beans/Legumes Purified water or beef broth 2 containers 1 onion 1 tomato, diced/ 1 tomat, 1 garlic Tony Chachere Créole seasoning 16oz sausage (American alternatives: Kelboas sausage; Sam’s Club Cajun Sausage (the brand has Beef and Pork as ingredients) Lemon juice 1 jalapeño or Cayenne pepper 3 bay leaves 1 celery stick Olive oil 1/3 of green bell pepper

Before cooking, pour the beans in a pot, place pot in the kitchen sink and rinse clean. Check and make sure that all dirt and pebbles are removed from the beans before proceeding. Drain the water from the beans and take the pot of beans out of the sink. Make sure that all the beans stay into the pot and not fall out of the pot into the sink. Pour the two canisters of beef broth into the pot of beans and preceded to boil the beans. Also, place the three bay leaves into the pot of beans and beef broth, as well as season to your liking Tony Chachere Créole seasonings. Once the boiling process has begun, place the range on low. While the beans boil, slice the sausage, diced the onion, celery stick, 1/3 bell pepper (with removed seeds) and place in a sauce pan with a bit of olive oil. Make the olive oil is enough to coat the pan. Ground enough black pepper and salt to sprinkle onto the sautée sausage and holy trinity (bell pepper, onion & celery). Ground as much black pepper and salt to suit your family's taste buds. A little goes along way especially in Créole cooking. The kick will come later from adding the sliced and de-seed jalapeño pepper.

Stir the seasoned sausage and holy trinity until the sausage is nice and tender. A golden brown in color. Make sure Not to burn the sausage.Turn the range of which the sautéed sausage was cooking on, off. Set aside. Proceed to stir the beans and place the sautéed sausage with holy trinity (onion, celery stick and bell pepper) into the pot of beans and beef broth, gently with a wooden spoon or spatula. Be careful not to splash the hot beef broth into your person. Stir the sautéed sausage and holy trinity into the beans and beef broth to make sure they mix well. Cover with a lid. Set the pot aside to simmer on low heat for about 6hrs or more. The cook time deepens on range settings I.e. temperature adjustments. Stir frequently so that the beans does not stick to the bottom of the pot especially if you are cooking the beans in a granite pot. Stirring frequently will ensure that the ingredients incorporate in your mail evenly. Forty-five minutes to an hour before the bean soup is done, clean, de-stem, peel and dice a tomato and jalapeño pepper and de-skin, and mince cut to cloves of garlic. Place the diced tomato, jalapeño and minced garlic into the pot of beans, sausage, holy trinity and beef broth. Wash and sliced a lemon in half and squeeze the lemon juice in a small bowl. Remove any seeds from the juice. Pour the lemon juice into the pot of beans. Stir the pot thoroughly. Thirty minutes before the soup is done, cook the white rice. Serve the soup on top of a mound of Louisiana Jasmine rice or South Carolina rice. For a nice touch slice a loaf of French bread and spread gently butter on one side of the slices of French bread. Place in the oven for five minutes or until butter is melted. Serve on the side with the bean soup.

Sham-ba-lay-ha. Eat up and Be full ! ~ an Attapaka/Atapaka Opelousas Tribal Saying

~ Ù.

Psst. Be sure to have a set of handkerchiefs on hand.