Thursday, October 2, 2008

Red Beans and Rice Soup

Fall in the mountains is such a beautiful time, especially if your from Florida. I love the fall and look forward to our September trip to Blue Ridge. It's an early taste of the fall colors and the cool crisp air of the blue ridge mountains. The Fly Rod Gawd loves the fall fishing, it reminds him of his childhood in Pennsylvania.
This year we took one of our best friends and her really cute dog. Her puppy is only 12 weeks old and she is soooo cute.

Here she is with The Fly Rod Gawd ready to go fishing.

We loved her so much that we are going to get one of her puppies. So meet Splash the mother of my dog!


Another thing that I love about fall is the great soups that seem to just hit the spot. We always make a big pot of soup when we go to the mountains. It's always ready to heat up for a quick lunch and what is better on a cool crisp day than a bowl of hot soup and a piece of crusty bread?



This trip we made Emerils Creole Red Beans and Rice Soup. It's delicious and hit the spot!



Emerils Creole Red Beans and Rice Soup


1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 whole chicken, (about 4 pounds) cut into 8 pieces and skin removed
Emeril's Essence
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup diced carrots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 bay leaves
Pinch cayenne
1 pound dried red beans, rinsed, picked over, soaked overnight and drained
1 gallon chicken stock
1/4 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions (green tops only)

In a large heavy stockpot, heat the oil. Season the chicken with Emeril's Essence. When the oil is hot, add the chicken to the pot and sear on each side until light brown, about 3 minutes per side. Add the onions, celery and carrots to the pot and season to taste with Emeril's Essence. Sauté the vegetables until they are soft, about for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaves, cayenne and red beans and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered until the beans are tender, about 2 hours.

Using tongs or a slotted spoon, carefully remove the chicken pieces from the pot and separate the meat from the bones with two forks, or a knife and fork. Discard the bones and return the meat to the pot, stirring to incorporate the meat into the soup.

Add the rice to the pot and cook until tender, about 15 - 20 minutes. Re-season the soup as needed and ladle into soup bowls, garnishing each serving with green onions. Serve with hot French bread.

12 comments:

Allie said...

She's such a cute dog! I love the ears!! What a hardy soup to have I bet it hit the spot. Can't wait for it to start getting a little cooler here so I can make the soup.

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Nice pictures! And great comforting looking soup.

Anonymous said...

Ah I love the mountains in the fall. Emerel's soups are always great!

Julie said...

The soup looks so yummy! Cute pup too!

The Inexperienced Foodie said...

wow that looks really good seems like you had a great and relaxing time

Jenny said...

How cute is that pup!?? And your soup looks nice, warm and comforting!

Prudy said...

What a cute little pooch. The soup sounds perfect in the crisp Fall mountains.

Deborah said...

What a cute dog!! And I too, love the mountains in the fall - especially if I'm coming home to a bowl of soup like this one!

Veronica said...

I love the mountains this time of year! Your dog is a cutie!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the mountains, too. We usually got to the Smoky Mtns.

I was going to post a red beans and rice recipe this week, too. I love red beans and rice. Being from the South, I eat it all the time. I love the idea of it as a soup. And your pictures are great. I can almost taste it.

TheRavenousMommy said...

Reminds me of New Orleans! There is nothing more comforting than a great bowl of red beans & rice :)

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