Etta Sullivan, Lily Taylor, and my grandma Nellie Sullivan. Photo courtesy of R.L. Reeves, Jr.

This post hails from R.L. Reeves, Jr., a Texas photographer and writer who is living and documenting life in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. His recipes and cooking notes can be found on his food and culture blog, scrumptiouschef.com

“Boy you’re not gonna amount to a hill of beans.”

That was my grandma Nellie Sullivan’s standard exclamation anytime I did something that got her ire up.

That was about as strong a ‘talking to’ as I ever received, but in the Cumberland Highlands of Eastern Kentucky that was plenty stout enough.

In the early part of the 20th century a hill of pinto beans had such little worth the good mountain people of the region quit growing them.

It was cheaper and less taxing on the granny women who tended the gardens to just saddle up one of the family’s mules and ride down to Bargo’s General Store and buy a big sack for a few pennies.

That’s how the invective “…hill of beans” came to be.

I’ve lived all over the southern region of the United States and have never found bean-loving cultures as strong as the ones in Eastern Kentucky and Louisiana, specifically New Orleans.

Let’s discuss:

Ham hock vs Creole or hot sausage.

The standard protein for a bowl of Appalachian pinto beans is a giant ham hock with plenty meat attached. You lower it into the broth along with the dry beans and magic occurs over the next two hours as the beans turn tender and the silky ham meat falls off the bone.

Here in New Orleans we do the same thing but with the addition of Creole or ‘hot’ sausage serving as a meaty garnish that straddles a bowl of Camellia kidney beans.

There is a deep love in this part of Louisiana for ‘pickle meat,’ a hold-over from the pre-refrigeration era in Louisiana. If your family had a surfeit of fresh hog meat they had to figure out a way to preserve it to last them through the winter. Pickling that fresh meat ensured that they would have plenty protein to last them throughout the year without the luxury of a big Frigidaire in their kitchen.

That pickled pork meat was and is a standard part of the red beans kettle.

When I was a little kid, hog killing time was marked by the first frost. That’s when the pigs kept in my grandpa Big Jim Sullivan’s pen knew the end of their days had come. Pickling was my grandma’s forte and was reserved for vegetables. Big Jim had a smokehouse in the backyard with 50-pound bags of saltpetre at the ready. The fresh meat was covered with a blend of that sodium nitrate along with regular salt and that combination cured and preserved the meat to great effect.

Hickory smoked, cured ham hocks were part and parcel of every pot of pinto soup beans that my grandma ever made.

Corn bread vs French bread.

I still remember the look of disdain I received from a New Orleans waitress when I asked after cornbread on a vacation here back in the 80s. “We don’t serve that dawlin” she flatly stated. My mind raced. How was I supposed to soak up the likker in the bottom of my bowl? A foot-long loaf of French bread quickly arrived to table, and it was fine but not in the same league as a pone of hot cornbread garnished with a hunk of cow’s butter. If you opened a diner in Eastern Kentucky and did not serve cornbread you’d go belly up within a month. If you tried the same thing in New Orleans sans French bread you’d shutter just as quick.

Any day of the week vs Monday.

Across the Appalachian mountains of Eastern Kentucky folks hit the kitchen on a nightly basis to cook up a kettle of pinto beans. There is not a traditional “bean day.” Here in New Orleans we do things a little different. Monday is the day that cooks across the city fire up the bean pot to feed family and friends. Restaurants here further the tradition by putting sandwich boards on the sidewalk in front of their establishment with quaint artwork trumpeting the kitchen’s bean output for the day.

Fried potatoes vs rice.

Every pinto bean cook in Kentucky has their own particular way they fry their potatoes as a standard side for their beans. My daddy would cut Irish potatoes into crude batons and slowly cook them in rendered hog lard with plenty yellow onion til the potatoes were crisp and the onions were tawny brown and fully caramelized. You’d then take the potatoes and put them in the bowl with the beans and make a heavenly mash.

In New Orleans we simply boil up a pot of good rice, put the rice into the bottom of the bowl and pour the beans over the top. If you’re really feeling enterprising you may also toss a cube of bouillon in the rice kettle.

Piccalilli vs hot sauce.

That rich pot of beans you’ve been simmering on your stovetop all day needs an acidic counterpoint to give it a little jolt. In Kentucky that call is answered by piccalilli, a lightly-fermented jar-bound melange of vegetables that have been treated with vinegar and allowed to mature in a dark cupboard. In New Orleans we crack open a bottle of Crystal or Tabasco hot sauce and douse the beans with the liquid fire.

Chile spice is foreign to the Kentucky tongue, where people will talk of how a bell pepper “lit them up.” Down here on the bayous we love our hot peppers, and are always figuring out ways to get a little extra heat in our dishes.

I’m left to wonder who has the stronger bean culture, Kentucky or Louisiana?

Neither. This is not a zero sum game. Each place has a clutch of dedicated eaters and cooks who pour their heart into their bean kettles. I’ve been fortunate to call both states home and you won’t find a place on earth with more welcoming people – and you can’t beat the cooks or the food cultures of either.

It’s the perfect time to cozy up with delicious bean soups, stews and more, so check out these easy to follow, foolproof recipe videos for fall dishes your family will love. From stovetop and slow cooker recipes to Instant Pot favorites, there’s something for everyone to dig into.

White Bean and Spinach Soup

A vegetarian soup that’s hearty and satisfying, this stovetop recipe gets big flavor from Great Northern beans, red pepper flakes, fresh rosemary and lemon juice.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Red Beans

A set-it-and-forget-it version to keep at the ready, these Red beans practically make themselves. Nothing could be easier or less stressful on a Monday.

Bourbon-Bacon Field Peas with Collards

Bourbon and bacon — with these two awesome ingredients, what’s not to love? Field peas have never tasted so good.

Instant Pot Pinto Beans & Ham Hocks

A dish that’s savory and satisfying, a ham hock’s marrow-rich flavor is the key to this winning recipe.

An Old Tradition

Like so many delicious Southern culinary traditions, the use of ham hocks came about as a result of hard times. While the wealthy viewed knobby, gelatinous ham hocks as undesirable, laborers in the fields and cities gladly used the marrow-rich bones to flavor and enhance beans, greens and broths. Hocks were, and still are, cured with salt and smoked — serving to enhance flavor while preserving shelf life. And the beloved practice of including a ham hock in a pot of simmering red beans is a must for many today.

Inexpensive, Collagen-Rich, Meaty Flavor

Over the years, Southerners have come to a universal appreciation for the rich, porky flavor that ham hocks impart at a thrifty cost. In fact, cooking red beans with a ham hock truly offers multiple advantages. First off, ham hocks are collagen-rich, so when slow cooked with beans and liquid, the collagen and fat slowly dissolve, adding a silky texture along with rich, smoky flavor. Ham hocks also add a wonderful saltiness, so be sure to wait till your beans have finished cooking before adjusting salt to taste. Usually sold in pairs that are pre-weighed and wrapped near your grocery’s butcher case, ham hocks are inexpensive, allowing you to add meaty flavor to your beans for less. And finally, at the end of cooking, you’ll want to remove the ham hock, pull it apart, chop up the tasty little pockets of meat by the bone, and add that meat back to your red beans – because those wonderfully tasty bits will make your red beans even more delicious.

Here are some of our favorite red bean recipes that feature ham hocks:

Emily’s Red Beans and Rice

New Orleans-Style Red Beans & Rice

And check out quotes from those who wouldn’t think of cooking red beans without them:

“Smoked ham hocks and sausage, bell peppers, onions and garlic! Oh yeah!”
Aimee M.

“Boil the smoked ham hocks first to make a smoky broth, and use that broth for the beans.”
Southern L.

“A Chisesi ham hock and a healthy dose of Tabasco.”
Randy S.

“Soak overnight. Salt, garlic and a great big smoked ham hock. Bring to good boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are soft texture.”
Kathy F.

Raised on her family’s farm in Mississippi and classically trained as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, Chef Jennifer Hill Booker puts an authentic, interesting twist on even the most humble pot of beans. And the recipes featured here from her cookbook Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent are a testament to her skill and ingenuity. Combining what at first glance might seem like two disparate types of cuisine — Southern and French — she has found a way to celebrate their similarities, by incorporating nose-to-tail cooking and using every part of the pig. Featuring such richness-producing cuts as hog jowls, ham bones, salt pork, and ham hocks, these savory recipes don’t let anything go to waste and are loaded with flavor. And with the addition of garlic, onion and dried red chili peppers, they create welcoming meals for family suppers and friendly get-togethers alike.

Butter Beans & Hog Jowls

Chef Booker notes that her delicious Butter Beans & Hog Jowls dish gets its richness from the bacon-like flavor but firmer texture of hog jowl. From the cheek area of the hog, hog jowl can be used fresh, cured or smoked and remains firm during long cook times. As she explains the Southern-French connection, “Beans and greens are a huge staple in Southern cuisine and cooked in much the same way here as they are in French cuisine. Whether the beans you use are fresh, frozen or dried, they are cooked the same way — by adding a liquid, a cured or smoked piece of meat for flavoring, and seasoning.” With Butter Beans & Hog Jowls, the broth becomes thicker the longer you simmer the beans, and the dish is even more heavenly when served with cornbread.

Great Northern Beans & Ham

Great Northern Beans & Ham is another of Booker’s favorites, and its wonderful flavor comes from the use of both a ham bone and diced ham. The marrow hidden inside a ham bone adds amazing richness to the dish and melts into silky goodness when slow-simmered. And the diced ham is a meaty addition that makes the meal hearty and comforting in every way. Serve with melty grilled cheese on sourdough for an irresistible combination.

Pinto Beans & Ham Hocks

Pinto Beans & Ham Hocks is a dish that’s savory and satisfying, and the ham hock imparts marrow-rich flavor that enhances the beans. Chef Booker explains, “The longer you cook your pinto beans, the thicker the sauce or “gravy” will become. I find it best to cook them a day or two before you plan to serve them, and refrigerate until you are ready to reheat and serve. This guarantees a thick, rich pot of beans.” For a little color and freshness, garnish with chopped spring onions, or top with sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped red onion and bits of bacon for even smokier flavor.

Field Peas & Snap Beans

Made with salt pork, Field Peas & Snap Beans epitomizes both down home goodness and Booker’s childhood experience. Like bacon, salt pork is made from pork bellies and adds great meaty flavor and luxurious fat — slowly rendering down as the peas cook. As for the addition of snap beans, Chef Booker notes: “It doesn’t matter if you start with fresh, frozen or dried field peas, they always turn a muddy color when they’re cooked. It made me realize that my grandmother always added snap beans (or string beans) to her pot of peas to provide a bright spot of color.” To round out the meal and feed a hungry crowd, try serving alongside a slew of toasted ham and cheese sliders.

For more recipes from Chef Booker, check out Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent. You’ll find more savory Southern dishes like Tomato and Okra Gravy, Glazed Turnips with Pearl Onions and Brown Butter, Fresh Pork Sausage, Hickory-Smoked Chicken Croquettes and Venison Stew.