Mosquito Supper Club White Beans
This recipe and photo are excerpted from Mosquito Supper Club by Melissa Martin (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2020. Photographs by Denny Culbert. Chef Melissa's restaurant, Mosquito Supper Club, celebrates authentic Cajun cuisine with family style dining in a repurposed historic house in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chef Melissa is the proud owner of her grandmother's old Magnalite pot, which is perfect for cooking up a big mess of beans.
Directions:
- Warm a heavy-bottomed 12-quart pot over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add oil and heat for 30 seconds.
- Add salt pork and cook, turning as needed to brown all sides, about 12 minutes.
- Add onion, celery and bay leaf; stir to combine.
- Add beans and water; cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring often, until most of the water has boiled off or been absorbed and the beans are tender, 50-60 minutes. (As the beans cool, they will absorb more liquid, so having some liquid left over is fine; you don't want dry beans.)
- Mash some of the beans against the inside of the pot and stir them into the liquid.
- Season with salt, black pepper and cayenne.
- Serve beans over rice, garnished with parsley and green onion.
This recipe and photo are excerpted from Mosquito Supper Club by Melissa Martin (Artisan Books).