With overnight lows kissing 70, it's time to start this thread back up. I'll kick it off same as last time, with red beans. This particular batch might've been the best I've ever made. I will credit the second massive smoked hock I subbed in for the usual tasso, and my wife's idea to mash just a spoonful of the beans and leave the rest whole.
Here is the lineup the night before, after which I soaked the beans and chopped the vegetables:
Brown the sausage:
Remove the sausage and sauté the trinity, jalapeño and green onions in the rendered fat, then stir in spices and half a head of garlic:
Add back the sausage and soaked beans, then nestle in the hocks, this pic was taken before adding just enough water to cover, putting the lid on the pot and sticking it in a low oven for 3 hours:
Once your beans are tender, pick the hoof meat and add it back to the pot, then either mash a spoonful of beans or let them simmer until the liquid gets creamy:
Didn't even need rice. This will keep the bed warm tonight: