The beauty of red beans is there is no need for a recipe. Secret #1 is to soak the beans at least 8 hours. You can use any meat to season them you like;I like spicy pork sausage (manufactured south of I-10, of course) that I char in a skillet-it really adds lots of flavor. Salt pork is pretty good too. Have never tried pickled meat, but I am open to any variation of the other white meat. Rinse the beans and cover them in a pot with fresh water until there is maybe 2 inches of water above the beans, then turn on the heat until they boil;once boiling, simmer slowly. I add a bay leaf, probably what amounts to 3 tablespoons of Tony Chachere's seasoning, some black pepper, about half of a chopped onion, some chopped garlic and the sausage. After a few hours the beans will be really soft. The last step is to take a big spoon and mash the marority of the beans so they are creamy. You may need to add a little more water occasionally as they will really suck up the liquid at this point. Serve over rice with some toasted french bread, and you are living well