While many are enjoying barbecue this first holiday of the summer season, I took a different tack. I have nothing against barbecue (believe me!), but having just returned home mid-weekend from a short road trip, I’m spending the day home, alone, enjoying the quiet and catching up on things like laundry and paying bills.

Because of that – and being inspired by the spiraling high prices at the grocery store – I decided to cook from my very full freezer (even though I now cook mostly for one, and not a large group, keeping a full larder and freezer is a habit I just can’t seem to break).

I turned to a New Orleans favorite – beans and rice. I had purchased a combo multi-pack of Camellia Rose Red and White Beans online earlier this year – and yes, I keep them in the freezer – a trick I learned from a long time family friend. Camellia Rose beans are very high quality, a local to Louisiana specialty product. They arrive very fresh and even though they are dried, freezing them helps to maintain that freshness. I’ve kept them in the cabinet for long periods, and trust me – they really do lose something.

Now I know some of you may be asking: New Orleans White Beans and Rice? Yes! While Red Beans and Rice have become so closely associated in the collective consciousness of the city (perhaps because they were Louis Armstrong’s favorite and he regularly signed off all his correspondence with “Red Beans and Ricely Yours”), traditionally we have eaten several types of beans and rice. In fact, my favorite weather gal in the city, would, as each French Quarter Fest season rolled around, wax poetic about the Butter Beans sold the the Fest by K-Paul’s, Paul Prudhomme’s iconic, erstwhile restaurant.

And my Uncle Reiss has always favored white beans. He waxes poetic about the white beans his mother – my grandmother – used to cook.

I was introduced to them by a take out joint near my house in the Algiers section of New Orleans. Chubbies sold the best damn Fried Chicken Sandwich – there was often a long line of people waiting for their order – and my favorite side to the sandwich was their White Beans and Rice.

So today, I sit – doing my tasks, and taking in the smoky, onion-y goodness that fills the air as they simmer on the stove, awaiting the moment when the Camellia Rose beans give up their creaminess (they really are creamy), and are ready to eat. Eating from my freezer, saving myself a few bucks and revisiting a New Orleans favorite this holiday weekend. What could be better than that?

New Orleans Style White Beans and Rice

• 1 pound white navy beans
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1 1/2 stalks celery, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 4 ounces smoked ham hock, diced
• 4 ounces smoked sausage, sliced (I like Hillshire Farms – it’s closest to the traditional smoked sausage that’s used)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2-3 large bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground combined white and black pepper
• 1/2 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
• A healthy pinch of cayenne
• 4 -5 cups chicken broth or combination broth and water
• Sliced scallions for garnish

1. Add all the ingredients to a large pot, and bring to a boil. When it boils, reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow the beans to simmer for 3-4 hours. As the beans simmer, check them, and add more water, if needed.
2. When the beans become soft (at about 2 1/2 hours or so), take about 1/2 cup to a cup of the beans, mash them, then add them back to the pot.
3. Serve with steamed white rice, garnishing with sliced scallions.