Sunday Night Food Thread (SNiFT): March 13, 2016

This weekend is "Forced Labor Weekend" in the bfd household as Mrs. bfd and I work on several outdoor projects.  Namely, we're installing additional stock feed tanks to act as vegetable gardens around the yard.  Because we can't dig into our yard because of all the creek rock, we use raised beds, and we turn them into wicking beds.  Here in Austin, we can go long periods of time between rainfalls, and wicking beds help out incredibly with water conservation.

In the garden, we'll have tomatoes, jalapenos, all sorts of greens (kale, cabbage, etc.), herbs, and, of course, a couple Carolina Reapers (thanks to MDC) to go along with my ghost pepper that survived the winter.  It's always spicy here, bay-beeee.

And what do I love to put my Scorched Bhut hot sauce in?  Red beans and rice will do just fine, thank you.  Below is my recipe for the red beans part of red beans and rice.

bfd's Red Beans (and Rice)

1 lb. dried red beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
2 TB bacon fat (no matter what TEXSON says)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1.5 lb smoked ham hocks, preferably with the bones
1 package Andouille sausage (optional)
6 to 7 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock, or water (sad face)
2 TB oregano
1 TB thyme
Salt, pepper, cayenne, and ghost pepper hot sauce to taste

Directions: Almost brown the ham hock on all sides in bacon fat.  Add bell pepper, onion, and celery and almost brown.  Add the garlic, spices, sausage, browning so that everything finishes at the same time.

Add the stock and beans.  Bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer, lid barely askew.  Cook until beans are done, about 90 minutes.  Serve over rice or just bathe in it.  Whatevs.

Right now, I've got the stock working and the beans soaking so I can make this tomorrow.  What's cooking with you, BRB brethren?

Usual open thread rules, so please be kind to each other, especially since nobody is wearing pants.

Also, h/t to poolswami for his onion recipe last week.  I made it today, and it was delish.