Ms. Patti's Red Beans & Rice - VIDEO

Music maven Ms. Patti takes over the Chintzy Chef's kitchen to cook up a classic New Orleans dish. Close friend of roots rocking Lucinda Williams and recent Facebook friend to Neil Young, Miss Patti has been deep in the L.A. music scene over the years -- booking gigs for the likes of bluesy King Cotton and Morris Tepper, and guesting on local roots radio programs. Miss Patti has influenced L.A. music tastes, and now she tickles the taste buds of  The 99 Cent Chef's audience.

I first met Ms. Patti at the The Palomino Club, the North Hollywood country, rockabilly and cow-punk venue (closed in 1995) where she performed with her group Ironin' Maidens (along with Melba Toast). The Palomino Club was a classic Valley roadhouse with a couple of pool tables on one end, a stage on the other, and a bar in the middle. Any performer with a Western musical bent has tore up The Palomino's small stage -- from Waylon Jennings to Dwight Yoakam, and there was even a one-off show with George Harrison, Bob Dylan and John Fogerty!  I met my wife at a moody Lucinda Williams show here. She was wearing tight black jeans and a winning smile, and I couldn't resist making a move on her! That is, my wife, not Lucinda (although both rock a pair of jeans.)

Ms. Patti moved to Slidell, Louisiana some years before Katrina hit. With a menagerie of critters in her back yard including cats, dogs and two mules named Fellini and Fidel -- you can be sure no little piggies were put under for her vegetarian version of Red Beans & Rice. Miss Patti loves her animals and does not eat meat.

She still comes back to L.A. when she can - I'm catching up with her in Burbank tonight (Friday) at Viva Cantina, where King Cotton is performing at 10:30 p.m. (an earlier act, Cody Bryant, starts around 8:15 p.m.), and the show is free.

Last Sunday I roped and corralled her in my kitchen, and put her to work rattling my pots and pans! Her Red Beans & Rice is easy to make, just add some chopped veggies and the beans, with salt and pepper, to a pot of boiling water, and cook until desired tenderness.

For this recipe, she brought her own legumes all the way from Louisiana - a one pound package of  Camellia brand Red Kidney Beans (tips on where to buy some in L.A. are here.) As for rice, she prefers Basmati. I always find one pound bags of off-brand red beans at my local 99 cent Only Store, along with Jasmine and long grain rice. You can substitute, as these ingredients are cheap from any grocery.

The fireworks fly and zingers abound when Ms. Patti is on the scene! So sit back and watch The 99 Cent Chef's latest video recipe, where Ms. Patti shows me, and you, a thing or two.

 Ms. Patti's Red Beans & Rice - Video

Play it here. The video runs 3 minutes, 30 seconds.

To view or embed from Youtube, click here.

Ingredients (about 6 servings)

• 1 pound package of red kidney beans
• 8-10 cups of water - follow package directions.
• 1/2 large onion - chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper - chopped
• 3 stalks of celery - chopped
• 3 green onions - green stems and all, chopped (but remove root end.)
• Salt and pepper to taste -- add a tablespoon of your favorite Creole spices for extra flavor.
• 2 cups of rice - follow package directions. Miss Patti like Basmati rice, but I've made the recipe with regular, brown, or even instant, rice.
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke - optional

Directions
Add 8-10 cups of water to a large pot. To speed up cooking, first soak beans overnight.

Bring water to a boil, while roughly chopping onion, bell pepper, celery and green onions. Add veggies to water with beans. Season with salt and pepper (plus Creole spices, optional) to taste.

Cover pot and cook, to quote Miss Patti, "depending on how firm or soft you like your beans."  This can mean 2 (if you soak beans overnight) to 4 hours (straight from package). I like to remove cover for the last half hour, or so, and allow the bean broth to cook down and thicken. (I like a gravy-like broth instead of a soupy one.) Check on the beans from time to time to make sure liquid doesn't cook out. It's easy enough to add half a cup of water, when needed.

During the last half hour, start the rice and cook to package directions. I let the cooked rice sit covered for 5 minutes, before serving.

Add rice to plate, or bowl, and top with Ms. Patti's Red Beans, and don't forget to get out the hot sauce!