The Family Meal: White Beans and Rice with Grilled Alligator Sausage and Corn Cake Muffins

 

Austin Kirzner, executive chef at Ralph Brennan’s Red Fish Grill, walked past the restaurant he would one day helm more than a thousand times when he was a teenage waiter in the French Quarter. Now, he serves the traditional seafood dishes, such as BBQ Oysters and Wood Grilled Redfish, that he knows his patrons crave.

 

Kirzner has fond memories of being in the kitchen with his mother and grandmother, making the hearty one-pot favorites that are New Orleans staples. His grandmother would make jambalaya, gumbos and stews, and Kirzner helped whenever he could. Now himself a husband and father, he carries on the family tradition by cooking with his three kids with wife Katie – Madison and Charlie, both 4, and Brooks, who is 2.

 

Serves 8

 

 

1 lb. lima beans, large, soaked overnight in water

2 lbs. Tasso

1 yellow onion, medium, diced

1 green bell pepper, small, diced  

¼ cup garlic, minced

6 drops Crystal Hot Sauce

½ cup Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp. olive oil

½ bunch parsley, chopped

4 green onions, sliced

4 cups rice, cooked

8 links alligator sausage, cut in half and grilled

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

 

In a large pot, sauté the onions, bell pepper and garlic in olive oil on high heat for 2 minutes, continuously stirring. Next, add the Tasso and lima beans, and cover with water (You may need to add more water as you go). Bring everything to a boil and let boil for 2-3 minutes, then reduce the heat to low. Add the bay leaves and simmer for 45-60 minutes. Finish the beans with salt, pepper, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and green onions. Place the beans in a bowl, add the cooked rice and grilled alligator sausage, then finish with parsley and a piece of corn cake.  

 

 

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 ¼ cups corn meal

½ cup corn flour

½ cup sugar

¾ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. baking soda

1 ¼ tsp. kosher salt

2 eggs

1 ½ cups sour cream 

¾ cup milk

4 oz. butter, melted

 

For the topping:

4 oz. butter, melted

½ cup honey

 

For the corn cake, mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl, until all is incorporated. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and blend well. Place the batter into each greased slot of a muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 min. When finished baking, remove from the oven and immediately poke holes in each muffin, then top each with the melted butter and honey.