Patrick Celestin is full of culinary swagger, a gifted and passionate cook (he hated being called a chef) and the best all-around restaurateur I've ever met. He ran the cleanest kitchen, with a happy and professional staff, and held the highest standards in the ingredients. I never saw him cut a corner. Everyday he sent at least one expensive something back to his vendors because it wasn't quite right. Delivery drivers would just sweat when he checked in food orders. The meat salesman from the local meat company just took it upon himself to be present when the order was delivered. He'd send back a case of chicken thighs if they were butchered clumsily; he'd yell at us for anything that wasn't exactly how it should be. He could throw on an apron and come up with inventive and insanely delicious specials anytime he wanted to. He'd often come back all stoned after shopping at Cash & Carry with a little chocolate soy milk carton in his hand, the kind you'd put in your kid's lunch box. He had a thing for organic chocolate soy milk and he'd get cases of it for us to drink. All the food was from scratch, soul-filled, and a lot of the recipes were from his Haitian family in Queens. He was in the game for over 25 years until he retired, and I worked for him in his final years in business when he was at the top of his game and a legend in the Sacramento restaurant scene. He wasn't the richest or the owner of the most locations, but if you loved food, he was one of the best. He owned his building, he had never been busier, and the food was delicious. It was a real pleasure learning from him, and a pleasure cooking and eating his food.
So because of that time I miss Creole foods often: Gumbo, red beans and rice, jerk chicken, coconut lime scallops, tostones, calamari, corn fries, key lime pie, veggie curry, ti-malice sauce, grio. He even made an orange vinaigrette with some Tang in it, the secret ingredient, just like his Grandma did. His food carried so much soul.
Anyway I'm plant-based now and have never felt healthier so I'm sticking with that, and I eat a lot of beans. I was dying for some Creole red beans and rice so I did some adaptation and landed on a pot of beans that really hit the spot and would make Patrick proud. These are often made with chicken stock, and usually have tasso ham in it, or bacon fat, and sometimes sausage and things like that. We are leaving all that out and replacing those ingredients with plant-based sources of flavor, but that's no excuse to get flavor lazy or soulless in the soul food.
There are other Creole Vegan Red Bean recipes online, but they seem to mostly be prepared from a place of vegan culture. One lady put a strip of kombu in her beans (Japanese seaweed often used for Japanese broths) because she said it helps you digest them. That just does not belong.
These beans are Creole first, vegan second.
INGREDIENTS
Vegan Creole Red Beans and Rice
16 oz package dry Red Beans (I like the smaller red beans but kidneys will work. Cook time will be longer.) 1 1/2 onions diced
1 green bell pepper diced
2-3 stalks celery diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 green onion thinly sliced
10 cups water
2 T salt
3 veggie bouillon cubes (Repunzel brand is great. Good flavor, good ingredients)
3 T vegan worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins has anchovies in the recipe)
3 dashes Crystal hot sauce
3 bay leaves
1T dried thyme
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 c fresh parsley chopped
1 t liquid smoke
3 T cooking oil
METHOD
Soak your beans in cold water overnight. Or you can use the quick-soak method (which isn't quite as good, but it works). Put the beans in a pot of water, boil for one minute, remove from heat and cover. Soak that for one hour.
Drain your soaked beans and set aside.
In a large heavy-bottomed pan, saute the onions, green bell and celery in the oil. (These are the "Creole Three") Hit them with the salt. Cook them until soft for five minutes.
Add black pepper, cayenne, thyme, bay leaf and garlic. Stir and cook for one minute.
Add beans, water, and the rest of the ingredients (except the green onion, that's for the finish).
Bring to boil and reduce to medium low heat. Stir occasionally and cook uncovered the whole time. After 2 - 3 hours (depending on beans size and freshness, soak method, and other factors) the beans and veggies will have cooked down quite a bit.
Taste a bean. When the beans are nice and creamy, no longer mealy, smash a third of them or so against the pan and stir to introduce all their starchy goodness through the whole pot. Cook them down for another 20 minutes.
Add a little water if it reduces too much. I have to add a cup or so of water near the end every time.
Season to taste with additional salt if needed.
Cook as much cooked parboiled (converted) rice as you want. Follow the package instructions and cook that up with a bay leaf too.
Serve a bunch of beans on a bed of the finished rice. Top it off with the green onions and serve with a salad with lots of avocados and tomatoes and an apple cider vinaigrette.
Keep that Crystal hot sauce handy because it's awesome with these.
That's it! This one's for you Patrick. You old baller.
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