Keeping New Orleanians Well Fed Since WW II
Leni’s Cafe is like going home, a place where you will find comfort food just like what your mom or grandmother — and let’s not forget dad and grandfather — made.

From a grilled cheese to a cheeseburger, omelet to egg sandwich, and red beans to white beans, this Baronne Street diner’s plate breakfasts and lunches have been keeping New Orleanians well fed since at least World War II.

Since 1978, the Warehouse District restaurant has been owned by Pete Patselikos.

He is, however, not Leni. That would be a previous owner (circa early 1960s), Leni Kampitsis; Leni is short for Eleni, a Greek name, and Greece is the country from which Patselikos hails.

“After the purchase, I continued what she had created,” says Patselikos, talking about the menu, which at its heart is American Greek diner food with New Orleans dishes.

That includes red and white beans.

The Secrets to Leni’s Red Beans
Patselikos claims there is no real secret to his red beans — “cook the red beans, put in the right seasoning” — but as you talk to him more, a few key elements pop out.

“We don’t soak the red beans,” he says, adding that people often soak them because of the quality. That’s not an issue at Leni’s because the restaurant uses Camellia Beans.

“Start by putting the beans in cold water, let them boil,” says Patselikos, “then put in the seasonings including pepper and celery, as well as sausage and ham.”

And don’t forget to add tomato paste to give it some color, Patselikos advises, sharing that butter is also added.

Only on Mondays
This process starts sometime between 5:30 – 6 am, and the red beans are done by 9:30 am, when they are creamy.

“We make them only on Mondays,” says Patselikos.

“Very traditional,” Patselikos’ wife Despina Patselikos says, referring to the New Orleans’ custom of making red beans and rice on Mondays. The origins of the Monday tradition can be traced back about 100 years to when women would simmer the beans on a stove during the day while they did the wash.

Customers can get the red beans and rice as is or with “Whatever you want that’s on the menu … it’s usually with smoked sausage. Some order a pork chop. A lot of people like to have it with fried shrimp,” says Patselikos.

#WhiteBeanWednesday
Then there is Leni’s white beans and rice, only served on Wednesdays. Instead of using Great Northern Beans, the restaurant uses Camellia’s Large Limas.

Why?

“That’s what they were making 45 years ago,” says Patselikos, who says he is continuing the legacy of the previous owners, such as Leni.

Classic & Time-Tested
And for a long time, Greeks have owned the restaurant. Before the current owners, there were Pete G. Michailakis and Gus Michailakis during the late 1960s and 1970s (they were either the same person or related to each other), and prior to that, Leni Kampitsis. A newspaper article from 1941 shows Margaret Wellbat — who may or may not have been Greek — owned the restaurant and that she was fleeced out of $15 by a Robert E. Byrd pretending to be in the army.

During the 1920s, the space was home to Monarch Sheet Metal Works and around World War I, it housed Murray Welding and Metal Works.

Now in 2022, there is no denying that when a customer walks into Leni’s Cafe, they will be served time-tested classic New Orleans dishes — such as red beans or white beans and rice — Leni’s style.

Leni’s Café, 741 Baronne St., 504.523.0069; Hours, Mon.-Fri. 6 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

NOTE: As of 10/2024, Mahoney’s is under new ownership and doesn’t serve red or white bean dishes and the French Quarter location ​is now closed​.

Mahony’s Po-Boys & Seafood’s Casey Levy had just received an urgent text from his staff at the French Quarter location. It wasn’t about the air-conditioning acting up or a delivery that hadn’t shown up yet. Nope – his staff wanted to know how soon he was going to bring the white beans over. White beans and rice — they are periodically on the menu as a special — are a favorite for staff and customers at Mahony’s.

Quality and consistency on the menu
For both the red bean and white bean dishes at Mahony’s, that meant using Camellia Beans.
“The quality and consistency achieved from about a century of maintaining those standards – how could we not want to use a local brand that lives that?” said Levy.

For every white bean there is a season
The white bean specials — Mahony’s uses Camellia Bean’s Great Northern variety — only happen about six months a year, divided somewhat by seasons. During the fall and winter months, that version is “looser, more old school style,” and is served with griddled shrimp with house seasoning that adds sweetness to it. The creamier version usually comes out during Hogs for the Cause, a culinary benefit in late March, and like the festival, is pork-centric.

Red beans: always on the menu
The red beans, which are always on the menu, are also made creamy. For that dish Levy “went to the drawing board … back to basics of what I learned early on in my family’s restaurants …. red beans old school, let the ingredients talk to themselves and figure out how they will handshake together.”

But instead of soaking the beans overnight using cold water, Levy said “we use hot water and add the smoked ham hock right away, with soaking only needed for five hours.”

After that, the smoked ham hock is removed, the beans are rinsed off quickly, then put back into the pot. “The absorbing of the smoky water into the beans gives them a different ‘bite’ when eating the beans. Lets you have that porky goodness without all the heavy oils needed,” said Levy.

Always cook the garlic in bacon fat
“Add your normal trinity, then garlic rendered in bacon fat,” said Levy, “a bay leaf and a little salt and pepper. We don’t add much seasoning at all.” They let the mixture simmer for a bit with the bay leaves and spices, then add in thin-sliced andouille sausage. “This will cook into the beans and give them that ‘lil extra flex,” says Levy.

Near the end of the cooking, when the red beans are creamy, a dab of Tabasco sauce is mixed in, before it is served with popcorn rice, smoked sausage and jalapeno butter cornbread. Some customers opt to have fried chicken with it.

Keeping it old school
“Like with many restaurants in Louisiana, the varying ways that they cook their beans lends to a great sampling of old school and newer flavors that can exist in the ‘kitchen sink’ cooking of the red and white beans world,” says Levy. “I like to think that ours has a taste and ‘feel’ that lets people remember a simpler way of cooking them and create that simmering of memory that made them fall in love with red beans in the first place.”

Mahony’s Po-Boys & Seafood, 3454 Magazine St., (504) 899-3374; 901 Iberville St., (504) 717-2422, mahonyspoboys.com

Where everyone knows your name
Café 615, Home of the Da Wabbit restaurant, with its iconic, vintage Bugs Bunny themed neon sign, began as a drive-in restaurant in 1948. Today it continues to be the place Westbankers (and others in the know) go for great New Orleans food. On a typical Monday, which is red beans and rice day, of course, it’s packed with diners. The waitresses are in nonstop motion and seem to know everyone by their first name. This familial feeling – not to mention the restaurant’s famed red beans – brings the neighborhood here, and that’s how owners Donna and Eric Savoie like it.

A restaurant history in neon
The Savoies bought this Gretna landmark in 2004 and renamed it Café 615, Home of Da Wabbit, keeping a link to its previous owner, “Da Wabbit” Licciardi, who won the building in a card game in 1946. Before Licciardi owned it, the business was a drive-up diner and bar called Kerner’s, which was also known as a place to gamble. Today, this old-school New Orleans tradition and the food keep bringing people back. “That’s how our business has grown – by just word of mouth or just locals,” says Dawn.

A red beans recipe for 300…and counting
When Eric recounts their red beans and rice recipe, he thinks in bulk – he says they serve about 300 portions on Mondays for lunch and dinner. He constructs his dish in steps: “We start with 50 pounds of dry beans. Add around 10 to 12 large bay leaves, then add two cups of liquid smoke and eight large smoked ham hocks. We boil it until the beans are soft, then add four cups of chopped garlic and 35 pounds of smoked sausage cut in quarters. We cook that until the garlic is soft, then add two pounds of non-salted butter. Then let it cook for two to three hours.”

Two pounds of butter – yes indeed!
The butter, he says, makes the mixture creamy. Eric then adds three or four stalks of celery chopped, 15 bell peppers, and 25 large onions, all chopped, which are all cooked down. “You don’t cook it until you can’t see the seasoning, because you still want to see the seasoning. We just cook it until it’s translucent, so it’s soft, but visible, and then we add salt.” The dish is completed with a side of a pork chop or smoked sausage.

Red beans, white beans… but always Camellia Beans
The only beans Eric will use, which also include the Thursday special of white beans and rice, are Camellia Beans. “It’s a family tradition,” said Eric, to use the beans. And it’s one that can’t be messed with. It’s staple and most people that come in are getting the red beans,” Dawn notes. “It’s a New Orleans thing.”

Pork chop or smothered rabbit on the side
For the white beans and rice – which can be ordered with pork chop or smothered rabbit (not the “wascally” kind) – Eric uses a different cooking technique: “We boil navy beans in plain water until they are soft, then we add regular onions, green onions, pickled meat, salt and pepper to taste. We check it until the pickled meat is tender and the beans are soft and creamy. Way easier than the red beans!”

Café 615, Home of Da Wabbit, 615 Kepler St., Gretna, 504-365-1225, cafe615.com

Edgar Chase IV has fond memories of red beans and rice, starting from when he was a small child. “In New Orleans, it is your Monday night meal. It’s also Carnival — going out to enjoy the parades and have some red beans and rice,” explains Chase.

He learned how to make the dish from his grandmother, Leah Chase, also known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, whose culinary skills brought people from across the globe to Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans – and made them fans for life. Leah Chase started in the family business after she married Dooky Chase, Jr. in 1946, and her culinary prowess was never short on admirers. The list includes Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush and musicians Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, to name just a few. In fact, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History in Washington, DC celebrates her life and legacy with an exhibit featuring artifacts like her cooking pot, restaurant menu, and one of her iconic bright pink chef’s jackets. And there was even a Disney movie that drew inspiration from her true story: The Princess and the Frog.

Let that bean work!

Edgar Chase IV took over when Chef Leah passed away in 2019, and he’s honored to carry on her legacy. “Growing up, everyone [in the family] worked in the restaurant,” said Chase, who started out washing dishes and busing tables at around 14 years old. Chase added, “I always wanted to hang in the back of the kitchen.” He’d watch his grandmother, then go home and re-create a dish from the restaurant, then bring it in for her to taste. “Her palate was so amazing, she picked up any misstep,” Chase said. “She would say ‘You need more of this … cook longer…’ and whatever she said, it came out better.” Among those dishes was red beans and rice. “We start with the smoked ham shank and smoked sausage, add salt, pepper and thyme and really just cook slowly to let that bean work,” he said, “then we finish with black pepper and vegetable oil to cream them up.”

The beans are going to speak for themselves.

“When you are cooking with Camellia Red Beans,” said Chase, “you are starting with quality. And you don’t have to do too much to red beans and rice to make it shine.” Chase is among those in the kitchen making the dish, including his cousin Cleo Robinson and Mister Bynah — better known as “Mister B” — who are making sure the red beans and rice are ready when the restaurant opens. Robinson is also the cook for the restaurant’s famed fried chicken, which is served with red beans and rice. Other dishes that lure in diners are the shrimp Clemenceau, stewed chicken, crawfish étouffée, Creole gumbo and Leah Chase’s famous gumbo z’herbes, a dish traditionally served for the Catholic observance of Holy Thursday. 

More than the sum of its food.

Leah and Dooky made sure that the restaurant was always more than just a place to eat; it was also a safe community gathering spot during segregation, and as such it played an integral role in the Civil Rights movement. In honor of this history, it was recently placed on the state’s Civil Rights Trail. Dooky Chase’s Restaurant continues to stay its course in the community as a culinary icon, a gathering place,  a way of life – and a celebration of New Orleans.

Written by Sue Strachan

To understand how important the Fiorella family has been to the food culture of New Orleans, just ask the folks who line up early at Fiorella’s Cafe in Gentilly, waiting for the doors to open. They wait for that hot and crunchy, award-winning fried chicken that is perfectly seasoned down to the bone. Some are there for the wide variety of po-boys on the menu. And many are there early on Mondays for first dibs on the hearty, smoky Monday red beans and rice before they sell out.

Family Recipes from a French Quarter Restaurant

Owners Kelly and Calcie Fiorella are carrying on a family tradition, with family recipes, based on the original Fiorella’s Restaurant on Decatur Street in the New Orleans French Quarter, which was operated by their dad, CJ Fiorella, until he closed it 1999. As that restaurant’s origin story goes, CJ was a New Orleans grocer of Sicilian descent who just wanted a good cup of coffee. Every day CJ would make his way to the French Market to buy fresh produce. After taking care of business, he would stop in the Market Place Restaurant and purchase a coffee. One day in 1984, the restaurant’s owner, Anthony Bianca, who knew CJ and his family and their love of cooking, approached him and offered to sell him the restaurant. It took a bit of pushing from a friend, but CJ finally accepted, and Fiorella’s was born.
CJ renamed it Fiorella’s Cafe and brought a large amount of the family’s own recipes to the restaurant. Not completely satisfied with the menu, he began to walk around the French Quarter and look at the different menus to see what others were doing. Since this was a family style neighborhood spot, he wanted to make sure he offered red beans and rice on Mondays, served butter beans another day, and stayed true to a typical New Orleans menu – but with a Fiorella spin.
“When my brother and I decided to reopen the family restaurant here in Gentilly, I said to him, I’m the one doing all of the cooking,” said Kelly Fiorella. He was not only excited to be back in the kitchen but also to bring back the original family recipes, including the famous fried chicken (they go through about 80 to 100 pounds of it per day).

How do you red bean, Fiorella’s?

Fiorellas Cafe in Gentilly on June 14, 2021.

One plate you will only find on Monday is red beans and rice – a recipe that was handed down from Kelly’s grandmother. “It was a tradition, and it was always with Camellia beans,” he said. “There were always little bags of Camellia beans in the pantry,” he said. “She also had stacks of Camellia white beans, red beans, navy and black-eyed peas. I can remember always seeing that little Camellia logo.”
On a typical Monday, Fiorella’s goes through about 10 to 12 pounds of Camellia red beans, according to Kelly. It’s all made fresh Monday morning and usually sells out by mid-afternoon. And when it’s gone for the day, it’s gone. Fiorella’s red beans recipe is a hearty one. You will find the hint of bacon with the onions, bell peppers, and garlic. They add ham, pork shoulder, and andouille sausage. The key to a good pot of beans, Kelly says, is to cook them low and slow.

Fiorella’s Weekday Specials – A Schedule to Live By

Kelly also uses Camellia’s large lima beans for the Thursday special of butter beans and rice. “I love the butter beans,” he said. “They’ve got so much flavor to them.” Other weekday specials include meatloaf on Tuesdays, Italian sausage and shells on Wednesday, and shrimp Creole on Fridays. The menu also includes favorite family classics like meatballs and spaghetti, veal parmesan, hamburger steak, fried seafood, a variety of po-boys, and of course, the fried chicken. In both 2016 and 2017, Kelly and Calcie earned the “best fried chicken” award at the National Fried Chicken Festival.

“It’s all family recipes,” said Kelly. “The red beans is a family recipe handed down.”

Fiorellas Cafe in Gentilly on June 14, 2021.

Kelly’s love of cooking was sparked early on, when visiting his grandmother. “Every time you walked into that woman’s house, it smelled like she was cooking a pot of red gravy or something,” he said. “That’s my grandmother’s meatballs that we use with the spaghetti. She taught us her recipes.”
The history of those who came before him is important to Kelly. Black and white photographs of relatives decorate the walls and serve as reminders of the legacy he wants to continue and build upon. The building itself has historical importance, too. The Fiorellas have had a longtime friendship with the Bologna family that formerly operated Teddy’s Grill at this location. To pay homage to that friendship and what the restaurant meant to the Gentilly neighborhood, two black plastic bull heads from Teddy’s Grill watch over the dining room. “We always just wanted to stay true to what is tradition in New Orleans,” Kelly added.

Written by Eric Olsson

Unfortunately, due to losses from Hurricane Ida in 2021, Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine is now officially closed after serving soul food to generations of New Orleanians.

Since Celestine Dunbar was a child, Camellia beans have been a part of her life in one way or another. “I can see my mother right now using one of those little packs of Camellia beans,” said Dunbar. “I can’t remember her ever not using them. They were just a part of our family.”

Cooking for her family is how Dunbar gained the confidence to open Dunbar’s Creole Cooking on Freret Street in 1986. “There were seven children, and it was their job to get up in the morning and make breakfast for the family. Then, they would turn around and start making lunch. I helped out and cooked a lot.” 

In the beginning, Dunbar’s offered deli sandwiches in keeping with the deli business she’d taken over at that location, but eventually she began to cook hot meals at her house and bring them in to sell. Many of the recipes were ones that her parents and grandmother taught her to make. Each day she would bring in a different special. Monday was red beans and rice. Tuesday was cabbage and barbecue chicken. Wednesday was meatballs and spaghetti. Many of these specials are still served to this day, and all of them are the same family recipes.

Celestine Dunbar never stopped cooking

For almost 20 years, Dunbar’s Creole Cooking was a fixture on Freret Street, but that all ended in 2005 after she lost the restaurant to the floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina and the fight with insurance companies that followed. To keep the Dunbar’s name out there, she went back to her roots of cooking in her own home kitchen and selling the food elsewhere. Her first stop was the food court at the Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans. After five years of serving students Uptown, she went on to deliver hot pre-plated meals to the workers on lunch at the Chalmette refinery.

This allowed Dunbar time to save up and purchase a new location, and she found that location in 2017 at 7834 Earhart Boulevard in New Orleans. Though the name of the restaurant changed to Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine, everything else stayed the same when they moved into the bigger location. Longtime friend and chef, Frank Jones, rejoined her as head of the kitchen. “He knows all of the recipes,” Dunbar said about Jones, who has been with her for over 30 years. “Frank does it all.”

“All they want is Camellia beans” 

As lunchtime hits, locals come out for the red beans and rice. “We sell them every day,” Dunbar said. “They’ll buy the red beans and rice before they’ll buy anything else.” She admits that over 60% of sales are for the red beans with fried chicken. On most days they go through about 12 pounds of Camellia red beans and up to 25 pounds a day during Carnival season leading up to Mardi Gras.

The recipe for the beans has been the same since the beginning. “We start with the trinity (white onions, green bell pepper, and celery) along with a lot of water,” Dunbar stated. “Then, you boil the trinity with garlic, green onions, granulated garlic, and a little parsley until the vegetables have become soft. You add your meat and seasoning (a special blend of black pepper and cayenne pepper) when the beans are about 90% done. This gives it it’s flavor.”

There are two tricks she offers for making the beans nice and creamy. The first trick is to add vegetable oil in the beginning. Dunbar says that by doing this, it will not only prevent the beans from boiling over and ruining the seasonings but will also help make the beans creamy. The other trick, or secret she learned from her mother all those years before, is to use Camellia brand red beans. “Camellia brand beans are just the best red beans there is. They are pink, fresh, and you just always get a beautiful red bean.”

Giving back to the community

Like many restaurants throughout New Orleans, Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine worked with the Chef’s Brigade NOLA, a united coalition of restaurants and chefs working together to offer food to those in need during the COVID pandemic, including front line responders, and healthcare workers. Dunbar said that they use Camellia brand lima beans and serve them with baked chicken seasoned with the “Louisiana Trinity” over a bed of white rice. The Chef’s Brigade produced up to 60,000 meals a day, utilizing independent restaurants throughout Orleans Parish to feed at-risk residents and neighbors throughout New Orleans.

Dunbar is happy that the restaurant can do its part in giving back to the community. She understands that the people of New Orleans have been an integral part in the continued success of her restaurant and rallied behind her to keep Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine going. Though there have been many ups and downs and stressful days, she always looks forward to what is to come – and there are exciting new plans. And through it all, she says that one thing will be certain, “people will come from all over the world and ask for those Camellia red beans and rice with fried chicken.”

Unfortunately, due to losses from Hurricane Ida in 2021, Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine is now officially closed after serving soul food to generations of New Orleanians.

Written by Eric Olsson

If the walls could talk.

Pimm’s Cups, intrigue, first dates, proposals of varying sorts, assignations, Creole flavors and a place to rest after a long day in the French Quarter — Napoleon House hasn’t changed much since 1914 when this famed bar and restaurant was opened by the Impastato family.

But if the walls could talk, Napoleon House would start telling tales from an earlier time when the building was owned by Nicolas Girod. Nicolas was a businessman, mayor of New Orleans from 1812 to 1815, and a dreamer and schemer. Soon after inheriting the building in 1814, he began to alter it, creating the three-story building that we see today. Legend says the work was done in preparation for the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose supporters — rumored to include local pirates Jean Lafitte and Dominique You — were planning to help him escape from exile in Saint Helena and come to New Orleans.

Napoleon died before this alleged escape plan came to fruition, but his portraits still preside over the Napoleon House on the faded plaster walls, and the stern bust of his countenance surveys the dreamily illuminated bar and restaurant where cocktails and classic New Orleans cuisine rule the day and night.

Red Beans on Monday

In 2015, executive Chef Chris Montero of the Ralph Brennan restaurant group took the helm at Napoleon House, where he is also the general manager. Montero, who’s from an 8th-generation New Orleans family and well-versed in classic Creole cuisine, kept many of the original Impastato family recipes, merely tweaking them with artisan-made ingredients. At the top of that list of was Monday red beans and rice.

Montero grew up sampling different red beans and rice styles: his grandmother preferred ham hock, pickled pork, and a spicy smoked sausage; his mother rendered pork and sausage. For his own version of red beans, Montero harkens back to his grandmother’s classic Creole cooking. “I make it with chicken stock,“ he said.

Sausage that tastes good and does good.

One of the two sausages Montero uses in Napoleon House red beans is a Creole smoked sausage that has a local — and philanthropic — origin. As part of “Silence of da Hams,” a team that competes in Hogs for the Cause (a barbecue competition held in New Orleans that’s an annual benefit for pediatric brain cancer), Montero helped develop the sausage. It’s also available in grocery stores, and a portion of its sales goes to Hogs.

Camellia in the (Napoleon) House

Montero also uses Camellia Brand beans. As he put it, “To me this is the only brand people buy.” Montero leaves the important job of preparing the dish at Napoleon House to Josh Bierria, the restaurant’s production chef. A “behind-the-scenes” person, Bierria is an essential part of the team, said Montero. “Josh’s Camellia red beans and rice have become a big item on Goldbelly.com” said Montero, adding, “Two weeks ago we shipped 200 cases of red beans and rice in a day, all over the U.S.” Would Napoleon have liked red beans and rice? Montero contemplates for a moment and answers, “Why, not?!”

Written by Sue Strachan

Forty-five years ago, Leo Christakis decided to purchase Mena’s Palace in the French Quarter as a way to move back to Greece. When he learned that the restaurant was for sale, he told his brother, Leo, “Let’s buy it, make some money to save up, and move back to Greece.” His brother agreed. But as the years went on and the business continued to thrive, Christakis and his family began to build relationships and friendships with those who lived around the restaurant. “In my culture,” he said, “you go to a friend’s house, and they ask you what do you want to eat? What do you want to drink? Then, we sit around and talk, and drink, and eat. That is how we do it here, that is how we take care of our customers.”

“He refuses to buy any other brand than Camellia.”

“It’s all he’s ever cooked with,” said Leo’s daughter and restaurant co-owner Ellie Christakis, referring to her dad. “One time, an order came in for lima beans. Our supplier had sent a different brand and we had used them because we had to make some lima beans. He tasted it. ‘No. These aren’t Camellia,’ he said. ‘Don’t order anything but Camellia.’ And we definitely learned our lesson. The color was different. The taste was different. It’s amazing what a difference Camellia makes.”

Start with the trinity.

At Mena’s they start their red beans with the trinity (onions, bell peppers and celery). They sauté it down and add smoked sausage as the seasoning meat. Once the red beans are added, they cook them for a long time to get to that creamy texture and serve them with fried chicken or smoked sausage on the side. Ellie Christakis explained that the family uses Camellia products at home, too. She makes the Greek soup ‘Fakes’ with Camellia lentils. The soup (pronounced ‘Fah-kehs’) is traditionally made with lentils, water, red onions, garlic, bay leaves and a tomato puree (if you want it reddened) and served with an added drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and lots of vinegar. “There’s another one called a ‘Fasolada’ and it uses a Great Northern Bean. And we only use Camellia,” Ellie Christakis said of the soup that many consider to be one of the national dishes of Greece.

Here for the community.

One thing that has been certain about Mena’s Palace and the Christakis family is that they have always put the needs of the neighborhood first. Whether it was coming back from Hurricane Katrina or riding out the pandemic, their top priorities have always been to treat everyone like family, keep prices low, serve big portions of high-quality food, and remain consistent. “We appreciate our customers and the relationships and friendships we have with them,” Ellie Christakis said. “New Orleans is such a nice city, especially in the French Quarter. There are so many good people. A lot of warmth and love.”

New Orleans is home.

“I wanted to move back to Greece, but never did,” said Leo Christakis reflecting on his decision to stay in New Orleans and continue operating Mena’s Palace with his family. “You get to understand the people, and I loved that. I wanted to see the customers happy and the rest took care of itself. I am 77. I’m still working, and I still like it.”

Written by Eric Olsson

As you walk up to, the aroma of fried chicken fills the air. People from all over the world line up and wait, sometimes hours, to enter Willie Mae’s Scotch House, a small two-room restaurant in the historic Treme neighborhood of New Orleans. They’re attracted by not only the aroma of perfectly fried chicken, but also by the accolades from the Food Network, the Travel Channel and the James Beard Foundation, which declared it an “American Classic Restaurant” for carrying on the traditions of great regional cuisine.

At one time, Willie Mae’s was just a corner spot that was only known within the neighborhood. It started out as a bar in 1957, then after moving to its current location, a beauty salon was added in the front because Willie Mae Seaton always wanted to be a beautician. She began to cook in the small kitchen behind the bar to feed the customers and soon after, they were telling her that she needed to open her own restaurant. In the early 1970s, the beauty shop was closed to make room for those who were coming in to eat the smothered veal, pork chops and that crispy, spicy fried chicken.

As word got around, the dining room, which seems more someone’s house than an actual restaurant, began to fill up. In May of 2005, the award from the James Beard Foundation put the old scotch house on the radar of every food critic, journalist, and tourist from around the country, and the lines stretched longer. But just months later, the restaurant was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that followed it.

After almost three years of rebuilding, with the help of countless volunteers and family members, Willie Mae’s Scotch House reopened to great acclaim. Willie Mae stepped aside and her great-granddaughter, Kerry Seaton-Stewart, carries on the tradition of the famed family-owned restaurant. The national praise of their fried chicken took off.

“Then of course there’s the trinity – celery, bell peppers and onions.”

Kerry Seaton-Stewart grew up in the kitchen with her great-grandmother and grandmother. “She had me in the kitchen with her my whole life,” Seaton-Stewart said, who began working at Willie Mae’s as a teenager. “She would require that I cooked all of these cultural meals. All the traditional meals. At school, they would fix red beans for lunches and I would just play with it because they were not my grandmother’s beans. I was always comparing and measuring the standard of red beans.”

But Seaton-Stewart knew that adapting to changing times was important to keep the restaurant moving forward. She noticed that those who lived outside of the southern region were not accustomed to eating lots of pork and fatty meats like they used in the pot of red beans or butter beans. “I felt the vegan wave coming on and I just wanted to be ahead of it and be inclusive,” she said. “That way, if people came in and they weren’t all pork eaters they can still eat it. I’ve been making them vegan for 14 years now.”

By switching the red beans and butter beans, which are large lima beans, to vegan, she felt that the actual flavor of the two dishes were lifted. One of the enhancements she found while doing taste tests with family and friends, was to include extra bay leaves. “Bay leaves are a must,” she said. “Then of course the trinity – celery, bell peppers and onions – and then some garlic.”  But the not-so-secret ingredient is in the red beans themselves.

“We use Camellia because it’s just a better grade of beans.”

Seaton-Stewart said that you can tell that the quality of Camellia beans is better than any other brands simply by the way they are farmed and cultivated.” You don’t have all the rocks in there and broken beans,” she said. “Camellia is high quality and they just cream better so you know when you cook them it’s going to make a good bean sauce. No other beans are going to be creamy like that.”

Expanding the tradition

Willie Mae’s Scotch House has been as popular as ever. After 60 years at the corners of St. Ann and Tonti in the Treme neighborhood, Seaton-Stewart expanded into the Central Business District food hall, Pythian Market, in 2019, with a condensed version of the restaurant. The new location still features the same iconic fried chicken and red beans and rice and will help meet the supply and demand to the loyal longtime following of locals and tourists to keep the legacy going.

“Red Beans tells the story of the culture of New Orleans,” Seaton-Stewart said. “It means home to me. It makes me think of my family because we have so many good times and great memories eating a pot of red beans.”

Written by Eric Olsson

In the middle of the ever-changing Bywater neighborhood in New Orleans, there is an unassuming yellow store front at the corners of Dauphine and Piety streets. Take one step inside the small grocery store and it’s like you are stepping back in time to the early 1970s.

The building that houses Frady’s One Stop has been around for more than a hundred years. Before Joseph Frady bought the going-out-of-business Flick’s Meat Market in 1972, it was an open-air fruit stand. Frady bought the meat market with two goals in mind: to turn it into a corner grocery store and to serve the best cold drinks and sandwiches. 

After Frady’s One Stop opened and word spread around the neighborhood about the food, locals began to ask for more than just sandwiches. To accommodate the customers, Frady had a small kitchen installed behind the counter with deep fryers and a stove and began to serve hot lunches and daily specials. Year after year, the list of po-boy sandwiches and daily specials could be found scrawled across the black chalkboards that decorate the interior.

A red beans tradition.

“Right away my father started to serve red beans and rice on Mondays because they were coming in and asking for it,” said Kirk Frady, who now runs the food store. “My dad was born and raised in New Orleans and grew up like that with my grandmother. Monday was wash day, and red beans and rice. People came into Frady’s and expected that.”

You’ll not only find packages of Camellia Beans being offered for sale on the grocery store shelf, but it’s also a Monday ‘lunch special’ that is served to-go with either smoked sausage or chicken, a vegetable (such as mustard or collard greens) and a dessert (bread pudding or a cobbler) for a price that has had loyal locals and in-the-know tourists coming back for decades.

“I don’t know where the recipe came from.”

“We usually cook four to five pounds of Camellia Red Beans every Monday,” Kirk Frady said. “I don’t know where the recipe came from. My dad hired a cook, an older lady, and she lived next door. She would soak the beans overnight, then she would come in and cook them. And it’s still the recipe we’re using today.”

To make the beans extra creamy, Kirk Frady says to use lots of butter along with mashing the beans in the end. To get that extra depth of flavor, besides onions, bell pepper, and garlic, he recommends using lots of celery. “We’re big on celery,” he said.

“We’ve always used Camellia. They have always been here and are established in New Orleans.”

Frady’s One Stop has established itself as a mainstay in an old neighborhood that is rapidly evolving around it. Away from the colorful residential streets that are lined with rows and rows of double shotgun houses and Creole cottages, the industrial spaces are being reclaimed and transformed as artists and musicians move in. Bed and breakfasts are sprouting up to meet the demand of tourists visiting this quirky, laid-back part of New Orleans.

“It’s a working-class neighborhood. We get a lot of carpenters and electricians, who are working on these old houses, come in to eat with us because it is an easy meal,” Kirk Frady said, “but with the Bywater being such a destination now, we’re selling a lot more groceries, like beans and hot sauces in little gift baskets because they want to take them back to where they are staying or send them back home. Even though they did not grow up with wash day and soaking beans, they know the drill and they want to take Camellia red beans and a Barq’s with them.”

“No Wifi at Frady’s. Sit and talk.”

At its core, Frady’s One Stop is still an old-world type of neighborhood grocery store, but deep down it’s one of the best spots to grab a bite to eat in New Orleans. While a small portion of the menu changes daily, the list of the sixteen po-boys offered along with the selection of breakfast that is served all day remains a fixture, just like the sign that reads “No Wifi at Frady’s. Sit and Talk.” So take your red beans and rice to go, sit outside on one of the colorfully painted benches, enjoy the charming neighborhood and know that no matter how much the area changes around you, the folks at Frady’s know what it means to be New Orleanians.

Written by Eric Olsson

Abita Springs is a quaint village deep in the piney woods of the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, about 45 minutes from New Orleans. Once a spa town where New Orleanians came to escape the summer heat and swim in the many local springs, it retains not only its 19th-century architectural charm but also its old-timey general store, right in the town’s CBB (central business block). With an emphasis on local tradition, Artigue’s Abita Market is a family business that serves the little community’s loyal residents, many of whom live in historic Victorian cottages close enough to walk to the store. Customers also include cyclists passing by on the nearby Tammany Trace bike path and day-trippers from New Orleans who come to check out the town’s attractions, including the quirky UCM Museum and the local Abita Beer microbrewery. 

A Small Town with Big Flavor

In addition to the grocery essentials required in any small Louisiana town, like Cajun spices, T-Rey’s local andouille sausage, spicy boiled peanuts and plenty of red beans, lima beans and blackeye peas, Artigue’s also offers a fresh daily specials menu, brought to life by chef Trey Herty. The menu features a rotation of classic Louisiana hot plates and po-boys plus local family recipes like Mom’s Red Beans and Rice with Pickled Meat, T-Rey’s Smoked Boudin, Louisiana Catfish Meuniere and Artigue’s famous Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo. And not to be missed are the side dishes, from tasty Boudin Balls with Pepper Jelly Dipping Sauce to Stewed Green Baby Limas, Baked Yams and Collard Greens.

Artigue’s Red Bean Secrets Revealed

The menu at Artigue’s evolves along with the seasonal produce that’s locally available, while also staying true to New Orleans traditions such as Red Beans and Rice on Mondays. Sometimes the menu is more Cajun and other times it’s more Creole, but at Artigue’s it’s always Louisiana. So how does Artigue’s do red beans? Chef Trey essentially follows his mom’s recipe and adds in a few “chef hacks” along the way. (His mom, Reba, makes the best red beans he’s ever had.) For seasoning meat he uses products he developed – T-Rey’s Specialty Meats Smoked Sausage and Pickled Meat – which customers can also buy in the store. Chef Trey always browns the sausage in a separate pan and deglazes the pan with vegetables to impart a rich umami flavor to his red beans, and he keeps the spice lineup simple and classic: salt, black pepper and cayenne, with garlic added at several different stages of the cooking process and a couple of dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce when serving. Can’t get much more Louisiana than that!

Smoked sausage is a bedrock red beans essential, and many folks wouldn’t make a pot of red beans without it. But while there’s always the popular Andouille, another local favorite is green onion smoked sausage. Flecked with bits of freshly chopped green onions, this variety of sausage offers a little bit of color and a whole lot of flavor to a pot of red beans. And it’s available from Louisiana brands like Manda and Richard’s.

Just as with other varieties of smoked sausage, most fans slice and brown green onion smoked sausage in a few glugs of oil, leaving the perfect amount of fat in the pot for cooking the trinity and infusing those aromatic vegetables with smoky green onion flavor. The texture, aroma and taste of green onion smoked sausage is a natural addition to a pot of creamy red beans, and a personal preference for many.

Check out quotes from fans who love making their red beans with green onion smoked sausage:

“Camellias..lots of onions..bay leaf..fry ground green onion sausage Patton’s Sausage and Smoked Cajun Sausage drain S&P cook slowly mash 2 cups creamy.”
Bonnie M.

“Some good smoked green onion sausages, smoked Tasso, smoked ham hocks, onion, Bell pepper, Tony’s seasoning. Slow cook for hours!!!!! I forgot.. GARLIC!!!”
Tonya M.

“Tasso, smoked green onion sausage, onions, little bell pepper, garlic. Chicken broth. Cook on high then turn down. I cook all day. Thick and creamy.”
Janet B.

When it comes to cooking homemade red beans a little more quickly and with less hands-on time involved, buying pre-chopped trinity is one way to go. But, if you’re looking to save time shopping and chopping, or maybe you don’t have the produce on hand that you need at the moment – a dehydrated seasoning base like Zydeco Chop Chop can replace the trinity. That’s why it’s great to have in your back pocket and as a staple in your spice cabinet.

Zydeco Chop Chop and other similar seasoning blends are made up of a combination of dehydrated vegetables including onion, red and green bell pepper, celery, green onion and parsley flakes. So in essence, you’re getting the trinity in dehydrated form, already blended and ready to help you cook up a pot of red beans that’s full of flavor. Zydeco Chop Chop is gluten-free with no salt added, easy to store, and stays fresh for up to 3 years.

Some home cooks like to rehydrate the dehydrated seasoning blend quickly before adding it to the pot by mixing it with water or oil, and using it to replace fresh vegetables. Others like to generously sprinkle it right from the container into the pot, throughout the cooking process. And then there are fans who like to use both fresh vegetables and Zydeco Chop Chop together, to give their red beans a little somethin’ extra. There’s just no wrong way to use it.

Try these red beans & rice recipes featuring Zydeco Chop Chop:

Zydeco Chop Chop Red Beans & Rice

This stovetop recipe uses Zydeco Chop Chop to replace the trinity.

Pantry Red Beans & Rice

This faster Instant Pot recipe relies solely on pantry staples you already have on hand.

A delicious fat for your red beans

Fat is a key component in making red beans creamy and flavorful. And if you love cooking red beans, you probably have a favorite kind of fat that adds the dimension, flavor and creaminess you can’t live without. For many, it’s butter — with its rich, creamy dairy flavor, it feels good in your mouth and makes other flavors taste better, too.

Butter acts as a creamy flavor carrier

Real butter is made from milk fat and has a delicious, smooth texture. Interestingly, it has a melting temperature of 98.6° F, which happens to be the temperature inside your mouth. And it works well as a flavor carrier for spices and other ingredients; for example, when you begin the process of making red beans by sautéing the trinity in butter, all the flavor from the onions, celery and bell pepper will be carried by the butter into the rest of the dish – complementing and enhancing the flavor of the beans.

Another way to experience the creamy mouth-feel of butter in your red beans is to add it at the very end of the bean cooking process, as a finisher. By adding butter at this point, you’re increasing the buttery flavor and ensuring wonderful creaminess, right before serving the beans. In fact, red beans & rice fans have spoken when it comes to their secret ingredients, and quite a few swear by the addition of butter – throughout the cooking process, as well as at the end. The exact amount varies from cook to cook, but when in doubt, you can’t go wrong by adding a little more. Like they say, everything tastes better with butter.

Try one of our favorite red bean recipes that features butter. These fans love it:

“The woman who taught me to make red beans when I lived in New Orleans added a whole stick of butter…delish!”
Karen K.

“I use a little file and a little butter.” Harvey H.

“A stick of butter….and making a roux first.”
James S.

“Garlic and butter.” Patrick S.

“A ham hock from heavenly ham or one of those ham stores
and half stick butter per pound!”
Maria C.

“A stick or 2 of butter.”
Michael B.

“Add about a tablespoon of butter just before serving.”
Ruth H.

What would a plate of New Orleans red beans and rice be without hot sauce?

That divine mixture of chili peppers, salt and liquid is a taste we just can’t live without! The pungent chili heat and tart vinegar profile of many Louisiana-style hot sauces add piquant flavor and contrast to thick, creamy red beans, and most people in New Orleans don’t eat red beans and rice without it. Do you add hot sauce when you’re cooking beans? Some chefs say the vinegar in hot sauce can prevent the softening of beans during cooking – and some don’t – but you can’t go wrong when you shake some of your favorite hot sauce on a plate of red beans at the table. 

Bring on the heat.

Also called pepper sauce or chili sauce, hot sauce is a mixture of some kind of chili pepper (and there are many kinds) with, most commonly, vinegar and salt, plus a variety of other possible ingredients like tomato, garlic, fruit, ginger or sugar. The intensity of the “heat” in a hot sauce, which can vary depending on the kind of chili pepper, is measured by the Scoville Scale. As an example, Tabasco’s classic hot sauce measures 2500-5000 SHUs (Scoville Heat Units) on the Scoville Scale, while another local favorite, Crystal hot sauce, measures 2000-4000 SHUs. 

Hot sauce and beans go way back.

Peppers of all varieties (as well as beans) were introduced to the Old World via early explorers to the Americas, who gathered seedling plants and specimens and distributed them worldwide. Archeological digs of southern Mexico, the land once inhabited by the Aztecs, unearthed evidence of chili peppers being eaten as far back as 7,000 BC. and domesticated centuries later. The Aztecs made an early hot sauce by blending peppers or pepper paste, herbs and water. As early bean varietals closely related to red kidney beans were native to the same region it is logical that they might have ended up in the same bowl – to rather delicious effect, no doubt! Somewhere along the way, a bottle of sweet peppers and water sat long enough to ferment, the predecessor to the array of fermented hot sauces we commonly enjoy today.

Crab Boil: Traditionally Used to Flavor Seafood

Crab boil is a spice mixture that’s traditionally used to flavor crabs and other shellfish when boiling seafood. And since Louisiana-style crab boil tends to be spicier than in other parts of the country, it’s not surprising that it often contains a fiery combination of cayenne pepper, salt, bay leaves, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, allspice, dill seed, black peppercorns and crushed red pepper. It’s found in two forms: 1) dry spices, usually housed within a mesh or cheesecloth bag that gets thrown into the seafood boiling pot to steep, and 2) a liquid concentrate that can be added directly to the water.

Boosts Flavor & Spice in All Kinds of Dishes

The real magic is in the liquid concentrate that’s made with spice extractives like essential oils (the aromatic components of a spice, normally extracted by steam distillation). Why? Because the liquid concentrate can be used to boost the flavor in all kinds of delicious dishes. And in South Louisiana, that means going well beyond boiled seafood. Many add a splash to their red beans (as well as to their rice-cooking water) for spicy, delicious flavor. But you’ll also find that folks add it to egg wash before frying seafood, as well as to gumbos, etouffées, and potato salad (again, to the water they boil their potatoes in). And some even go so far as to add it to melted butter used to roast potatoes and other vegetables.

Try a Few Drops in Your Red Beans

It’s potent stuff, but because you can literally use it drop by drop, you can control the level of spiciness and flavor it imparts. Haven’t tried it yet? Give it a go in your next batch of red beans and rice; you’ll be glad you did. Just remember, a little goes a long way, so be judicious. And enjoy.

A Spice-Aisle Staple for Vegetarians

Liquid smoke is a spice-aisle staple among vegetarian bean lovers, and they swear by its ability to add great smoky flavor to vegetarian red beans & rice. While smoked meat purists might not approve, liquid smoke fans claim it’s a meatless shortcut to savory, woodsy flavor. It provides the flavor of smoke without using smoked meats or cooking food over an open flame. Of course, you can use it to add extra smoky flavor — even if your dish also includes smoked meat.

So what exactly is liquid smoke? It’s literally wood smoke that has been condensed into a liquid form. Invented by Ernest H. Wright in 1895, it’s the result of running smoke from burning hickory wood through a condenser, and collecting the droplets. At the time, it was an inexpensive alternative to the common practice of smoking meat, and it was used more as a preservative than a flavoring agent, due to its natural antimicrobial properties.

A Great Way to Add Smoky Flavor

With the widespread appeal of summer campfires and backyard barbecues that came along in the 1950s and 60s, as well as the acceptance of flavoring condiments such as ketchup and barbecue sauce, liquid smoke gained popularity. Now, it’s marketed as a great way to quickly add smoky flavor to your favorite foods. And as you might expect, it’s popular as an ingredient in the production of barbecue-style meats, smoky bacon and smoked cheeses.

Most brands of liquid smoke are made the same, all-natural way that Wright did it way back when. Nowadays, you’ll sometimes find additional ingredients such as molasses, salt or vinegar.

A Little Goes A Long Way

The most important thing to know about using liquid smoke is that a little goes a long way — whether a dish is vegetarian or not. Dash it sparingly into chili, stews, soups and slow cooker dishes. Try adding a few drops to your red beans, and taste as you go. The flavor is intense, and you don’t want to overpower your dish. When tightly sealed and stored in a cool, dark place, it should maintain its flavor and aroma. So the next time you want to go for that special savory flavor, reach for the liquid smoke.

Recently, we caught up with Chef Jay Ducote about his two-week Red Beans & Rice Tour through Texas. Along with his culinary crew, he cooked up over 250 lbs. of authentic Louisiana-style Red Beans & Rice with pop-up events at favorite breweries and restaurants across the state.

Jay Ducote is a chef, writer, speaker, entertainer and hugger based out of Baton Rouge, LA. He’s got a long bio, but to keep it short, he was a finalist on Food Network Star in 2015 and does big things in the food and beverage world. He runs a culinary media company called Bite & Booze and pretty much eats and drinks for a living.

What are your secrets to perfect Red Beans & Rice?

I love cooking red beans and rice outside in large cast-iron cauldrons. That’s how my cousin Travis taught me to do it at LSU tailgate parties. We soak the beans overnight, then cook them in the water that we soaked them in — to make sure there’s even more bean flavor in the finished product. The keys are: a good smoked sausage (we got ours for the trip from City Pork in Baton Rouge), a nice seasoning (we used Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning, plus some kosher salt), and some herbs like bay leaves, sweet basil and sage.

I’ve got to give a shout out to Chef Aimee Tortorich, who is the future executive chef of Gov’t Taco which I’m opening in Baton Rouge this summer, as well as my Bite & Booze culinary director. She took the lead on cooking each pot of red beans throughout the trip and did a marvelous job. It’s nice because we really both cook ours the same way, so we feed off of each other’s cooking really well.

For Louisianians, making and eating red beans & rice is a ritual, and is often paired with must-have seasonings and go-to sides. What are yours?

I find that red beans need a little hot sauce. The vinegar gives a little acidity that the earthy beans need. We brought Slap Ya Mama’s Cajun Pepper Sauce on the tour with us, and people loved it. Of course, you also need a good Louisiana rice to serve red beans over. We use Supreme Rice out of Crowley, Louisiana. Their long grain white rice is perfect for red beans, gumbo, or any other dish you’re serving over rice. I also love a little corn bread with my red beans, too!

What was your favorite part about Jay D’s Red Beans & Rice Tour of Texas?

Making friends with all the people that I got to meet along the way! I met so many new people in each city, and I’m really glad I got to be out and about throughout so much of Texas. I also really liked being able to connect with old friends from my high school and college days who are scattered around Texas now!

What did folks like best about the tour?

It seemed like the red beans themselves were one of the biggest hits from our tour. People gobbled them up at every stop. It was nice to bring some authentic Louisiana flavor to deep in the heart of Texas. We met people who were eating Louisiana red beans for the first time and people who grew up on red beans but hadn’t had them in ages. It was nice to see their reaction as they tasted a part of their childhood again.

What’s next for Jay Ducote?

What’s next is always a good question! I’m giving a TEDxLSU talk on March 11th about my Single Origin Coffee project with beans from a small community in the Dominican Republic. We’re also working on launching my first restaurant concept, Gov’t Taco, which will be a modern American taco shop in White Star Market in Baton Rouge, opening this summer. I’m always hoping to have more travel and TV appearances in the future, so hopefully some big things will happen there, too! It’s a pretty crazy journey that I’m on. If anybody wants to follow along, you can find me at jayducote.com, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!

Rice is an essential but often-overlooked co-star of Louisiana’s most famous and distinctive dishes: gumbo, étouffée, jambalaya, dirty rice, rice and gravy, and — yes — red beans and rice. And when you’re choosing the rice that will complement your cooking, there’s no reason to settle for run-of-the-mill varieties when something as delicious as popcorn rice is available.

Savor the Hints of Nuts and Popcorn

Popcorn rice — a Louisiana-bred long-grain specialty variety of aromatic rice — is a sure-fire way to make your red beans even tastier. Popcorn rice delivers just what you’d expect from the name: a uniquely strong, nutty, toasty, popcorn-like aroma that is comparable to basmati rice.

The prominent extra flavor and fragrance in popcorn rice come from natural biochemicals that rice farmers purposefully cultivate, chiefly one called 2-acetyl 1-pyroline (or 2AP) that delivers the special aroma. You’ve heard of artisan cheeses, beers, and sausages; well, popcorn rice is an artisan grain.

Better Ingredients, Better Beans

The preparation of popcorn rice is generally no different from other varieties of white rice, though you should refer to your package’s label for specific instructions. To preserve its flavor, store popcorn rice in a cool, dry place or even freeze it.

Your red beans and rice won’t be any worse off if you don’t use popcorn rice, but as with anything you cook, the better ingredients you use, the tastier your final product will be. Using popcorn rice (or other aromatic types such as pecan rice and jasmine rice) is simply another way to up your kitchen game with a higher-quality flavor component that will never be accused of blandness.

We are excited to announce the kick off of Chef Jay Ducote’s Red Beans & Rice Tour of Texas! Our man Jay, along with his Bite & Booze crew and fellow Louisiana brands, will be touring through Texas for the next two weeks to cook up authentic Louisiana-style Red Beans & Rice.

Jay and his team have packed up 250 lbs. of Camellia brand Red Kidney Beans and will be popping up at several brewery locations across Texas. Jay’s notorious giant cast iron pot will be bubbling over with our beans and an array of southern favorites like Slap Ya Mama and Supreme Rice.

Read on to see where Jay and his team will stop near you!

Wednesday, January 25th – Bakfish Brewing, Pearland, TX, 5 – 9 pm

Sunday, January 29th – Salt: New American Table, McAllen, TX, 5 – 9 pm

Thursday, February 2nd – Independence Brewing, Austin, TX, 5 – 9 pm

Saturday, February 4th – New Republic Brewing, College Station, TX, 5 – 9 pm

Tuesday, February 7th – Grapevine Craft Brewery, Grapevine, TX, 5 – 9 pm

Find out more about the details, and see photos of each pop-up on Jay’s Facebook Event Page.

Jay Ducote is a chef, writer, speaker, entertainer and hugger based out of Baton Rouge, LA. He’s got a long bio, but to keep it short, he was a finalist on Food Network Star in 2015 and does big things in the food and beverage world. He runs a culinary media company called Bite & Booze (www.biteandbooze.com) and pretty much eats and drinks for a living. You can find out more about him at www.jayducote.com.

What’s your favorite kind of fat?

If you love red beans and cook them religiously, you probably have a favorite kind of fat that adds the dimension, flavor and creaminess you can’t live without – whether it’s canola, corn or olive oil, butter, margarine, bacon grease, or even lard. In fact, red beans & rice fans have spoken when it comes to their secret ingredients, and which kinds of fats they swear by. So we’ll cover the most popular ones here, giving you a taste of their flavor profiles and what they bring to the table.

Fat tastes good. And it makes other flavors taste even better.

Keep in mind that fat not only has the useful functions of keeping cooking water from boiling over and transferring heat to food, but it also adds an awful lot of depth to a pot of red beans. Fat feels good in your mouth and makes other flavors taste better, too. Fatty foods are often more flavorful because many flavors dissolve in fats. In fact, some flavors like to stick to fat molecules, so fat can actually prolong the release of flavors in your mouth.

Cooking Oils: With mild, nuanced flavors, oils add depth and creaminess and complement other flavors in the pot.

A fat favorite mentioned by many is oil. Because of its mild, nuanced flavor, it adds depth to savory dishes and complements other flavors in the pot. Lots of red bean lovers wouldn’t dream of adding anything else to the pot until they’d first sautéed the trinity (a combo chopped onion, green pepper and celery), as well as garlic, in a few generous glugs of olive oil. The combination of those aromatics plus the oil makes a wonderfully flavorful base for red beans. Others adamantly insist that adding corn oil or canola oil near the end of cooking is the key to the creamiest red beans. Following are some interesting quotes and tips to chew on:

“If using meat, brown it in olive oil after patting it with your favorite seasonings. Afterwards, use some of the oil and the drippings to sauté all the veggies.” Michael D.

“Pickled pig tails and cooking oil @ the end.” Teara M.

“A big cooking spoon of Mazola Corn Oil for creamy beans! These are the best!! Cooked in a crock pot!!!!” Cindy N.

“U want creamy beans? Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil at the end. Works every time.” Shana T.

“Sauté onions, garlic in canola oil.” Susan P.

“At the end, a l’il cooking oil – the best!!!!!” Tammy B.

Butter: Luxuriously smooth and creamy, it carries flavors and spices into the rest of the dish.

Another popular choice is butter. With its rich, creamy dairy flavor, real butter is made from milk fat and has a delicious, smooth texture. Interestingly, it has a melting temperature of 98.6° F, which happens to be the temperature inside your mouth. And it works well as a flavor carrier for spices and other ingredients; for example, when you sauté an onion in butter, all the flavor from the onions will be carried by the butter into the rest of the dish – complementing and enhancing the flavor of the beans. Sound good? Try one of our favorite red bean recipes that features butter. These fans say it’s their secret ingredient:

“I use a little file and a little butter.” Harvey H.

“Garlic and butter.” Patrick S.

Bacon Grease: The king of flavorful fats

Now – nothing against oil and butter, but when it comes to adding meaty, smoky flavor and richness, lots of red beans & rice fans claim there’s nothing better than bacon grease. Cooking bacon in a cast-iron pan or heavy skillet over very low heat for 10 – 12 minutes will give you a good rendering and a nice amount of fat to work with. But remember, bacon is salty because it’s cured – so when cooking with bacon grease, be careful of the amount of salt you add. You can always put more in if need be, but it’s hard to fix if you over-salt. Check out some bacon fan suggestions below:

“Chicken broth, bacon grease, and ham hocks.” Heather V.

“Bacon grease. Gotta have it!” Claire S.

“Smoked bacon, smoked turkey neck, and the grease from the bacon, celery.” Theresa G.

“Bacon grease.” Kuris N.

“Sauté onion, celery, garlic in bacon fat.” Rose Anne L.

“Bacon grease-sauté onions-pickled pork, Tasso, a little roux, ham base, low and slow till they cream, green onion tops at the end!” Jimmy Y.

“I use bacon grease to help make my beans creamy.” Rhonda K.

“A teaspoon of bacon grease.” Connie W.

Making you hungry for a pot of red beans? Start cooking and maybe give one of these fan suggestions a try.

A beloved ritual and tradition.

Making red beans and rice is a beloved ritual and tradition in New Orleans, and for many, prepping the beans and vegetables and gently coaxing that pot of goodness into a state of creamy perfection is both a pleasurable experience and a bit of kitchen therapy. There’s just no rushing the process of slow-cooking red beans on your stovetop, and yet there’s nothing difficult or tricky about it either. It may take time, but it’s actually hard to get it wrong. There are so many different ways to deliciously flavor and season your red beans, that about the only thing you need to be concerned with is not burning them. And when you’re done, you will have created something truly worth savoring with family and friends.

No matter who you are or where you live, you can learn to cook a pot of New Orleans-style red beans that really gets it right.  Simply set aside some time at home – a Sunday afternoon is great – and follow these step-by-step instructions and tips. (Bonus: some say a pot of red beans made on a Sunday tastes even better the next day, and lucky for you, makes enough for several lunches.)

New Orleans-style red beans done right.

First up, to soak or not to soak your beans? As with many aspects of making red beans, there’s no right or wrong answer here. If you want to reduce the actual cooking time on the stove, then by all means soak your beans starting the night before. Rinse and sort beans in a colander, pour into a large bowl, and cover them with fresh, cold water – about an inch or two above the beans.

The next day, you’ll see that the beans have soaked up much of the water. Several beans might look split open. No worries, that’s as it should be. Drain what’s left of the water in the bowl.

Next, chop the aromatic vegetables known as “the trinity”. The trinity consists of onion, green bell pepper and celery, usually in equal amounts. (If you live in south Louisiana, you can take a shortcut at this point and use a container of pre-chopped trinity readily available in local grocery stores.) Otherwise, chop the veggies ahead of time, so they’re ready to go into the pot once the sausage is browned. Note that you can even chop your veggies and freeze them for later use.

Now, slice up a pound of smoked sausage, and brown it over medium heat in a large heavy pot. Note: a thick-walled pot like a cast iron pot or a Dutch oven is your best choice for even heating and avoiding any chance of burning the beans.

You’ll notice that the browned sausage leaves a nice amount of fat in the pot that’s perfect for the next step – cooking the trinity.

Along with the trinity, add chopped garlic and ¼ stick of butter, and cook until the veggies are soft and translucent – about 5-10 minutes. As you can imagine, now is when the flavors are starting to meld, and the aroma is amazing.

Add the soaked, drained beans to the pot, along with a bay leaf and 5-10 cups of fresh water. While that might sound like a big variance, it allows for whether or not the beans were soaked. If they’ve been soaked, they’ll need less water at this stage; if they haven’t, they’ll need more. Again, it’s not an exact science, so don’t fret – just be sure to use enough water to cover the beans by an inch or so.

At this point, the boiling and simmering starts the softening of the beans. Some call for bringing the pot to a rolling boil for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and then reducing to a simmer for a couple of hours. Others advise covering the simmering pot with a tight-fitting lid for an hour or so, and then removing and continuing to simmer. The point here is for the beans to absorb the water, and for the excess liquid to slowly evaporate, or cook off. Basically, how soft you like your beans and/or how soup-y you prefer the bean liquid will dictate how long you simmer – with the pot covered or uncovered. Either way, remember that the key to creamy red beans is longer simmering as well as the continued act of mashing beans against the side of the pot. Note that mashing will also give you a good indication of the softness of the beans. If they’re soft, they’ll be easy to mash; if they’re not, they’ll be more difficult to mash and will need more time to simmer.

Finally, when the beans are soft and the amount of liquid in the pot is to your liking, it’s time to add salt, pepper, hot sauce, and Cajun seasoning to taste. It’s important to add these spices at the end because salt can keep beans from softening if added too early. And the sausage affects the flavor and saltiness of the beans as they cook. Be sure to taste and season, and then taste and season some more! It’s always better to add a little bit of seasoning at a time, stir and then taste – so as not to inadvertently over-season the pot in one fell swoop.

Congratulations – you should now have a pot of delicious, creamy red beans. All that’s left to do is cook up some hot, fluffy rice, add to individual bowls, and ladle the beans over the rice. Garnish with a little chopped green onion, and you’ve got the perfect New Orleans meal to share with those you love. Don’t forget to put out an assortment of hot sauces, and let everyone adjust the spiciness to their own taste. Bon appétit!

Camellia’s Famous New Orleans-Style Red Beans Recipe

Ingredients:
1 (1-pound) bag Camellia Brand Red Kidney Beans
1 pound smoked sausage
8-10 cups water
1/4 stick of butter
2 cups chopped seasoning blend (onions, celery, green bell peppers, parsley flakes)
1 toe garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cajun seasoning to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse and sort beans. (Optional: Soak beans using your preferred method.)
2. In large heavy pot, cook sliced sausage for 5 minutes.
3. Add chopped vegetables and garlic to cooking sausage, along with 1/4 stick butter, and continue to cook until onions turn soft or clear.
4. Add beans, water, and bay leaf.
5. Bring to rolling boil for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
6. Reduce heat, simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally, until beans are desired tenderness.
7. Add salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning to taste.

There are as many ways to make your #RedBeansDoneRight as there are beans in a bag, but the one thing they all have in common is a passion for red beans as big as ours.

Here are some of the amazing ways you suggested for making a perfect pot of beans. If you don’t see your secret below – tell us in the comments section!

“The roux.”
Kristin W.

“The garlic n smoked sausage”
Monteria I.

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

“Lots of love, and killer cornbread on the side!!!”
Bobby S.

“Chicken broth, bacon grease, and ham hocks.”
Heather V.

“Pork neck.”
Victor F.

“Bacon grease. Gotta have it!”
Claire S.

“Allspice.”
Angelle G.

“Crab boil!”
Jamie A.

“Ketchup.”
Ellen H.

“I learned from Frank Davis to use beef and chicken broth for the water.”
Benny’n’Angi J.

“The andouille from Cajun Specialty Meats Pensacola, FL.”
Karen C.

“Smoked bacon, smoked turkey neck, and the grease from the bacon, celery”
Theresa G.

“My secret is cooking with love.”
Tiko A.

“LOTS of onions and ummmm good!”
Chris H.

“Butter.”
Charlene G.

“A Bud Light.”
Benny R.

“A lil brown sugar – not much though. Between a teaspoon & a tablespoon”
Susie M.

“A can of cream of mushroom soup, and a can of rotel tomatoes.”
Theresa S.

“The trinity, smoked sausage, liquid smoked and garlic.”
Chastity M.

“Gotta have pickle meat and beef broth.”
Judy C.

“Gotta have the trinity plus garlic, bay leaves, Tony’s and hot sauce!!!”
Stephen M., Jr

“Tasso.”
Jennifer M.

“Smoked ham shank.”
Anne P.

“Smoke ham shank, mesh some of the beans on the side of the pot. I use a little file and a little butter. Take frozen bacon and a sharp knife and cut in thin half inch slices cuts perfect when frozen.”
Harvey H.

“Cajun Power Garlic Sauce, Tony Chachere’s, smoked ham shanks, braised ham hocks and lots of bay leaves.”
Gretchen W.

“Andouille and slap-ya-mama seasoning…”
Ron S.

“The secret is to only use Camellia Red Beans! No other bean cooks to be as creamy as y’all’s do! The BEST!”
Adele S.

“Bay leaves is a must have ingredient!”
Troy R.

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

“Camellias..lots of onions..bay leaf..fry ground green onion sausage Patton’s Sausage and Smoked Cajun Sausage drain S&P cook slowly mash 2 cups creamy.”
Bonnie M.

“The only kind of bean I cook!”
Angela M.

“Bay leaves.”
Robert M.

“Soak beans overnight in water and vinegar night before cooking.. Always use slow cooker and chicken broth.”
Alison S.

“Some good smoked green onion sausages, smoked Tasso, smoked ham hocks, onion, Bell pepper, Tony’s seasoning. Slow cook for hours!!!!! I forgot.. GARLIC!!!”
Tonya M.

“Bell peppers of course…”
Vanessa W.

“I love pickled onions in my red beans!”
John F.

“Manda’s hot sausage, trinity, garlic, 1Tbs Tony’s, 2 Tbs Worcestershire, 1/2 tsp thyme, 3 bay leaves, Crystal hot, in a crock pot, sometimes tasso too.”
Rhys M.

“Hot Rod’s Creole Seasonings and Sauces and butter with plenty of sausage and ham.”
Rodney B.

“Soaking them overnight, trinity, tabasco.”
Lee B.

“Fresh herbs, celery, shallots, onions, parsley, bay leaf, garlic, pickle meat, smoke sausage and seasoning salt.”
Bonnie W.

“Garlic and butter.”
Patrick S.

“Soaking beans and little bit of garlic with onion.”
Beth Ann W.

“Bacon grease.”
Kuris N.

“A ham hock and slow cooking,seasoning,hot and smoke sausage pig tails and tips y’all don’t know.”
Charleyne L

“Zatarain’s Red Bean Seasoning Mix….it’s AWESOME….taste like Popeye’s red beans… but better because they’re full of delicious sausage!”
Lisa D.

“Rouses Andouille.”
Dawn O.

“Going back to the way my Mom cooked red beans, soaking them overnight, saute’ onion, celery, garlic in bacon fat, add pickle meat, drain beans put in pot, add water, season with salt & cayenne pepper, add bay leaf and let cook until creamy.
She didn’t add all that stuff you buy today and the were delicious!”
Rose Anne L.

“Bacon grease-sauté onions-pickled pork, Tasso, little roux, ham base, low and slow till they cream, green onion tops at the end!”
Jimmy Y.

“Smoked meats.”
Shannon M.

“Pickled chayote squash better none as mirlitons.”
Eddie C.

“Cooked some of these yesterday. Used sausage.”
Debra R.

“Andouille:)”
Marquand P.

“Zatarains crab boil.”
Lisa C.

“Just Tony’s.”
Lis B.

“Chicken stock. Cumin.”
Debra E.

“I soak the beans a few hours, trinity of course, garlic, bay leaves, tonys, rotel. My secret is cream of celery soup. Andouille.”
Kirk P.

“Zatarains Liquid Crab Boil.”
Roma E.

“Every Monday! Try with Patton’s Hot Sausage from Louisiana.”
Deirdre S.

“Coffee!”
Karen B.

“Bell pepper, garlic, onion, bay leaf, ham, skinless smoked sausage and pigtail, cayenne, Tony’s …. New Orleans style”
Linda G.

“Okra at the end.”
Rene T.

“Since I can’t eat pork anymore, I gotta use some liquid hickory smoke with my beef sausage and fresh bay leaves!”
Karen H.

“Time. Not thyme.”
Mitchell P.

“A shot of Zatarain’s liquid crab boil and a double shot of liquid smoke with a lot of crushed garlic and fresh parsley finely chopped.”
Gary C.

“Bay leaf, a little dried basil and a little dried rosemary. Also, my grandma used to serve her pickled mirlitons alongside the beans. Delicious!”
Gail S.

“Pickled pig tails and cooking oil @ the end.”
Teara M.

“Butter, chicken cubes and pickled tips… and garlic.”
Dina G.

“Smoked hot sauce.”
Mike S.

“Sazon”
Aracely L.

“Andouille and smoked Tasso and or ham. In the slow cooker. All day.”
Try H.

“Andouille, diced pickled pork, garlic, Tony’s, and a really good blend of other seasonings.”
Liz X.

“Cumin.”
Donna W.

“Sazon, Adobo, sofrito.”
Corey S.

“BACON!!!! Tbsp cornstarch and tbsp cold water at the end to thicken.”
Nicole N.

“Curry and lots of Splenda near the end.”
Marc L.

“Soak them overnight.”
John G.

“Liquid crab boil.”
Randy J.

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

“A ham hock from heavenly ham or one of those ham stores
and half stick butter per pound!”
Maria C.

“This sounds disgusting (and perhaps it is) but some add ground up hot dogs in their beans. Popeye’s beans are said to have this “secret ingredient”…”
Michael R.

“A little bit of baking soda when soaking the beans.”
Rene E.

“Thyme, fresh cut bay leaves, 1 tsb catsup, tonys, one clove of garlic, fresh green onions.”
Sonny C.

“A nice fresh piece of salt meat, fresh squeezed garlic, green onions, parsley, and 1 large diced yellow onion, don’t forget the big cooking spoon of Mazola Corn Oil for creamy beans! These are the best!! Cooked in a crock pot!!!!”
Cindy N.

“A stick or 2 of butter.”
Michael B.

“Bay Leaves!”
Debbie G.

“Add about a tablespoon of butter just before serving…..used 1lb.bag.”
Ruth H.

“Soak overnight. Lots of garlic! Onions celery parsley chives. Pickle meat hot sausage and a pinch of baking soda to help w digestion. Gotta say everyone loves my red beans! And of course salt to taste!”
Cheryl Q.

“Sometimes cook with pickle and salt meat or mild smoke sausage ,also some people use bacon.”
Roxanne F.

“Pickled meat.”
Jennifer M.

“Andouille of course!!”
Mary Lynne F.

“Bacon…. Yum!”
Patty H.

“Salt pork!”
Wade L.

“Tasso”
Ethel M.

“Beef sausage and ham hocks.”
Daphane M.

“Always cook them in the pressure cooker makes them very creamy. All fresh seasonings, plenty of garlic. Add a little pickle juice to each serving! Delish! Judy from the 9th!!!!”
Judy B.

“Don’t soak them, rinse and boil them hard adding water as needed, makes thick intense gravy.”
Scott I.

“Pickled pig tails, pickled rib tips, D&D smoked sausage.”
Kia M.

“Mexene chili powder.”
Loria W.

“The secret to creamy beans is to let them boil for five minutes with fresh green seasoning, garlic and a couple of bay leaves.”
Darlene W.

“A little cinnamon.”
Kenneth M.

“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 or soft texture.”
Kathy F.

“For creamy beans: wash beans and place in HEAVY-bottomed cooking pot. Pour a kettle of boiling water over washed beans, add a pinch of baking soda and cover tightly, and allow to sit overnight.”
Dez C.

“I use Camillas, my secret starts with seasoning my sausage n fresh seasoning n frying them before I put them in my beans, grease n all. Of course I use bay leaves n celery like most folk.”
Shavonda H.

“Applewood bacon fat!!!”
Arianna P.

“Fresh chopped garlic in the last 10 min of cooking.”
Reed C.

“35 minutes in the pressure cooker…ham shanks, hot sausage, bell pepper and lots of onions=BAM!”
Gina M.

“Pickled meat, garlic, bay leaf ,onions and let them simmer on top of the stove! Serve over rice with a little hot sauce, fried Chicken, and fresh French bread!”
Daphine J.

“I ALWAYS add about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of liquid crab boil in my red beans depending on the size of the pot. And a few drops of liquid smoke…”
Dyra H.

“Always use ham bone with bone exposed (or saw the bones)-read-a long time ago- a recipe from Leah Chase that said the marrow makes the beans creamy-it works. Plus lots a garlic, onions, little celery, bay leaf or 2 pinches of sage, thyme etc. Add some smoked sausage near the end.”
Carol Jo B.

“I also use crawfish and alligator sausage in mine! Yummy”
Martha F.

“Hot pepper pickled Pickled Onion and Ketchup!”
Charles s.

“U want creamy beans? Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil at the end. Works everytime.”
Shana T.

“Soaked in beer with bay leaves unattended.”
Tearyeyes L.

“I  use bacon grease to help make my beans creamy. I also use bay leaves off of a bush that has been handed down 4 generations! So yummy!”
Rhonda K.

“Plenty of fresh thyme and smoked Tasso.”
Fiera T.

“Soak and rinse them. Put them in the crock pot with some onions, garlic, celery, boiled pickled meat, kitchen bouquet and brown gravy powder.”
Adia H.

“My homemade smoked sausage.”
Brandon F.

“Teaspoon of liquid crab boil, smoked sausage or pickle meat. (Not salt meat). onions finely chopped.”
Jim L.

“I like the Zatarains red bean seasoning but also add lots of onion, garlic and minced celery. For meat I added both beef sausage and a chunk of ham.. Soo good!!!”
Miyoshi M.

“Liquid crab boil.”
Brian M.

“Crumbling cornbread.”
Diana L.

“I use hickory smoked bacon! The grease from the bacon will make the beans creamy and flavorful!! But I can’t forget the smoke sausage, pickled meat and ham hocks!!!”
David H.

“sour cream, tasso, white onion after it’s done cookin!”
Johnny G.

“The woman who taught me to make red beans when I lived in New Orleans added a whole stick of butter…delish!”
Karen K.

“1 tbsp oregano at the beginning.”
Peter T.

“One of the things is I drain my rice water into my beans to help thicken in the end.”
Steve P.

“Syrup!”
LeAnna T.

“The best beans I make all year are always the batch I do after Easter when I’ve got that big beautiful leftover ham bone to throw in to the mix.”
Melissa S.

“Camellia beans only. Slow and long cooking, lots of onion, green onion, a little parsley and celery.”
Sherry B.

“bacon, onions”
Karen B.

“Mayonnaise is delicious in red beans!”
Gary A.

“A stick of butter….and making a roux first.”
James S.

“Zatarain’s red bean seasoning, Cajun smoked sausage or andouille and a secret I can’t tell nobody.”
LaTaiya B.

“Good andouille!!!!!”
Mandy J.

“Some good smoke meat and mother love opelousas in the house you come back for more.”
Ivory C.

“lots of garlic, onion, bell pepper and celery”
Terry S.

“Coffee.”
Georgia C.

“Always soak my dry beans overnight shortens the cooking time. Leave on a medium. Fire covered until they pop. Once they have opened up I throw in my seasoning and salt meat and turn up the fire. I like pickled tips in my beans.”
Bridget C.

“Chicken stock instead of water.”
Gwendolyn B.

“My mom put some chili powder in hers.”
Carmen W.

“Pickle meat and smoked ham hocks and smoke sausage.”
Pamela S.

“All of the above plus ham and cajun sausage lots of garlic,celery, a large onion and gumbo file'”
Lynn D.

“Simplicity. Soak overnight. Rinse. Ham bone & some ham seasoning…. Not a fan of tasso & andouille in beans. Add garlic, onion, bell pepper, bay leaf. Cook til soft, salt & pepper.”
Susan J.

“saute onions, garlic in canola oil, stir in some tony’s roux mix, salt & pepper & a can of diced rotel tomatoes, then add the beans (that were soaked overnight) – add water & cook for a LONG time”
Susan P.

“ Best red beans are ragin cajun red beans with seasoning packette. Add your meat n water. Don’t have to worry about over salting.”
Chris R.

“I put a couple of drops of liquid crab boil in mine”
Ann M.

“Liquid smoke!”
Deborah C.

“creole explosion seasoning”
Jada D.

“Lots of chili powder!!!! It adds flavor but not a lot of heat.”
Julie P.

“Capt’n Jack’s creole spice seasoning and fresh bay leaves Gretna Farmers Market Sat. Am 8:30 to 12:30”
Janis O.

“Tasso.”
Linda M.

“Soak overnight…pickle pork meat…zatarain’s red bean seasoning packet and chicken stock instead of water…Yum!”
Brandi B.

“1/2 cup of bacon grease and 2 ham hocks. Sounds gross, tastes awesome!”
Dawn W.

“ham hocks (smoked)”
Alice W.

“Spicy Cajun Conecuh sausage. Good stuff.”
Johnny C.

“Soak overnight w/ pinch of baking soda! When browning seasoning meats and holy trinity add drained beans to skillet with the above to let the steam expand them further; then I put them in slow cooker with 2 quarts of chicken broth.”
Jimmy C.

“Pickle meat”
Linda C.

“Liquid smoke”
Lacey G.

“Bay leaf a bit of File’ “
Bentley K.

“I use the trinity, salt meat, smoked or regular turkey necks, Tony’s, and that’s about all. I will try the crab boil.”
Saja M.

“Use Smoked Ham Hocks as the Meat, saute onions, garlic, celery in butter and add once the beans start creaming. Add chopped green pepper in at the end – Delicious!!!”
Julie H.

“Add savory to your list of seasonings!”
Ernest A.

“I make a roux!”
Lynda B.

“Soak beans into 12 hour sessions. The first one just water; the second with salt, bell pepper, shot of cayenne & some Lea & Perrins. After 2nd session pour in pot; get beans to a boil, add other seasoning, then slow cook until beans are really soft. Remove a cup of just beans & crush real fine, return to beans & stir to make a nice gravy; let cool.”
Bill R.

“Liquid crab boil”
April K.

“Lard”
Debbie L.

“Make them the day before you want to eat them”
Dana N.

“A teaspoon of bacon grease.”
Connie W.

“little liquid smoke…”
Sue H.

“Rotel hot”
Johnna B.

“Anyone put a little vinegar on top?”
Pam V.

“Zummo Sausage and TexJoy Seasonings!”
Kimberly M.

“Pressure cooking. The creamiest beans ever in 30 minutes.”
Pat A.

“The secret is to soak the night before. Pour that water off. Then cook slow slow and they will be DELISH.”
Chyra D.

“Bay leaves & bacon grease”
Shelita H.

“PICKEL MEAT!”
Alex H.

“Andouille sausage, garlic, Tony’s, onions and mash some of dem beans to thicken it up. Slow cook”
John M.

“Cilantro and celery salt”
Farrah K.

“I put onion, little garlic, celery, bell pepper, bay leaves, chili powder, Tony’s, bacon grease, salted pork. Cook about two and half hours.”
Nancy L.

“A can of Rotels…”
Lily M.

“Smoked pork neck and bacon grease.”
Shannon G.

“has to be Camelia, and REAL ham”
Priscilla C.

“crab “berl”
Lou Ann S.

“Smoked ham hocks”
John H.

“Pickled meat and Double D Smoked Sausage!”
HaroldBecky M.

“It really brings out all of the flavor of the beans”
Donna O.

“Slow cook them overnight and all the next day. Onion, peppers and celery. Tony’s. Perfection!”
Tisha H.

“Slow and low, Manda smoke sausage, picked tips, onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, bay leaf, Tony Chachere , fresh cracked black pepper”
Morris C.

“Tasso, smoked green onion sausage, onions, little bell pepper, garlic. Chicken broth. Cook on high then turn down. I cook all day. Thick and creamy.”
Janet B.

“Camilla beans cooked in onions, bell peppers, garlic, celery and sausage. Saute everything add water to cover put in 350 degree oven. Cook an hour checking half way to make sure of liquid”
Ruby L.

“Manda Ham Cubes , Bacon , Andouille Sausage, Creole Cut Up Seasoning, Basil, Oregano, and Tony Chachere’s”
Rene R.

“Bay leaves and a few drops of Zatarain’s liquid crab boil!”
Ron E.

“A sprinkle of ground cloves and a dab of tomato paste.”
Kathryn W.

“after the beans are done take a cup out and mush and put them back”
Amy M.

“OH YES,,, GOTTA HAVE BELL PEPPER, CELERY, HOT SAUSAGE, AND OF COURSE 3 YELLOW ONIONS, CUT UP LARGE, SERVED WITH HOT GERMAN POTATO SALAD,, WITH CORN BREAD,,, AND OF COURSE—- LOUISIANA HOT SAUSAGE,,,, ENJOY”
Mark B.

“Camellia beans and Slap ya Mamma”
Doriegh S.

“electric pressure cooker…”
Ellen T.

“Richards turkey tasso,and of course onions,bell pepper,celery,and garlic salt and zatarain’s red pepper always bring to a boil, sit an hour pour off first water, brown turkey tasso and onions,etc.add to fresh pot cook about 1 and half hour, add salt at the end the tasso is salty”
Edie H.

“Garlic, a bay leaf, one or two chicken bullion cubes (I know, right?), and a ton of fresh ground black pepper.”
Dean M.

“Trinity, bay leaf, ham hocks, smoked sausage, low sodium chicken stock,Cajun spice blend (Beazell’s) and dried or fresh dill.”
Linda F.

“I put bacon in my red beans. They come out so flavorful and creamy!”
Peggy C.

“Pressure pot bay leaves onions Bp seasonings at the end a lil cooking oil they’re the best!!!!!”
Tammy B.

“Little bit liquid smoke n Beazells”
Michael H.

“Bay leaves”
Darren L.

“onion, garlic, flat leaf parsley, celery, bay leaf, tony chachere’s, woochushire (can’t spell it) sauce, salt pepper”
Rebecca B.

“For every pound of red beans we add a small can of tomato sauce. My husband’s grandmother’s recipe. Makes the “gravy” awesome. You don’t even taste the tomatoes.”
Mona D.

“Onion, garlic, bell peppers, bay leaf, a little Brown sugar, Worcester sauce, a little tomato sauce, shortening, pork jowls, ham hock, bacon fat, smoke sausage, towards the end, a sprinkling of chopped wild green onions and a pound of fresh shrimp.”
Melernea N.

“ Chitlin puree”
Marc G.

“I’ve been cooking Camellia red beans for 55 years. I use onion, garlic, bacon fat and salt meat. If I can’t get salt meat, I use pickle meat. I taste the beans before I add salt.”
Eunette B.

“Should put a tablespoon of Mint Flakes per pound of beans too!”
Kevin W.

It’s no secret that I LURVE red beans and rice. But only mine. LOL! I’m far too critical of other people’s red beans and rice so I don’t even try them. I know…bad Mingo…BAD! But my beans are pretty dang delish. If you’ve ever had them… you know this for sure.

Here is my recipe for each pound of beans you’re cooking:

1 lb Camellia Brand Red Kidney Beans
1 ham bone or 1 lb ham hocks (This is why you save the bone with the difficult to cut meat on it from the Christmas ham…just wrap it good in foil and put in a ziploc freezer bag! When I don’t have one I use ham hocks.)
1 – 2 lbs sausage (sliced and browned)
1 yellow onion
1 bell pepper
5 stalks of celery
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of thyme
9 cups of chicken broth (I use Herbox chicken granules)

(Rinse and sort beans and then START SOAKING IN WATER THE MORNING BEFORE THE DAY YOU COOK THEM! The gas needs to expel.)

I season the beans while they are soaking in the water.

Salt and pepper (black and cayenne) to taste *NOTE! I DON’T PUT IN SALT UNTIL THE VERY END AS YOU NEVER KNOW HOW SALTY THE HAM HOCK WILL BE! WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR LAST “TASTE” ADJUST SALT THEN…YOU PROBABLY WON’T NEED ANY!

In olive oil, saute diced onion, celery, garlic and bell pepper for about 10 minutes. Add thyme, bay leaves, black and cayenne pepper.

Add beans, broth, and ham hocks/bone, and bring to a boil, uncovered.

Add sausage. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. YES…I SAID TWO HOURS! The best cooking is done slooooooooooooooow!

After two hours, remove ham bone and put on plate. Then, scoop out about 1/2 cup of beans and mash them up. Carve meat off bone into bite sized pieces. Put meat ONLY back in pot. Taste and adjust seasonings. Bring to another low boil and stir mashed beans in well making sure they don’t stick to bottom of pot. Lower temperature and simmer on low, covered, for 20 minutes. This makes the beans creamy.

Serve over brown rice. Oh yeah…they will be muuuuuuuuuuch better tomorrow! LOL!

P.S. For non-pork eaters…I guess you can use smoked turkey…but I wouldn’t know cuz I use pork…the pig ain’t never done nuttin to me! I eat it “from the rooter to the tooter!”

Monica Mingo is a filmmaker, author, and enthusiastic advocate for living life to the fullest. You can read more about her on her blog, That Gumbo Life.

This recipe has been our family favorite for over 70 years. My mom would make these red beans every Monday, just like most New Orleanians do. I have probably given out this red bean crock pot recipe dozens of times. It’s pretty traditional. When I worked at Popeyes’ corporate in New Orleans, we put together an employee cookbook and my recipe was included. And when I moved to Houston and I worked for NATCO we put out an employee cookbook and I got emails of many people who loved this recipe.

If it’s Monday in New Orleans, then there are thousands of households and restaurants with a big pot of red beans simmering on the stove. There are as many recipes for red beans as there are for gumbo. This one is my family favorites, based off of a common New Orleans recipe with a few changes my family made. My wife had never had real New Orleans red beans and rice until she had my recipe.

Barry Begault’s Slow Cooker Red Beans

Ingredients:

1 lb Camellia Red Beans
1 lb andouille sausage or good smoked sausage
1 lb pickled pork (pickle meat) (optional – except at my house)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 whole garlic, minced – yeah, ya gotta have the garlic!
4 ribs of celery, chopped
3 bay large bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce – gives it more body and taste
2 – 4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

The Night Before:

1. Cut pickled pork in 1 inch cubes and brown in 1 tsp. olive oil. Put in bowl for storage over night. Leave the pan drippings for the next step.

2. Sweat vegetables in the olive oil and pork drippings with a bay leaf. While the veggies are cooking, and there is plenty of water in the pan, deglaze the pan by scraping the brown deliciousness from the pickled pork from the bottom. If not using pickled port, sweat vegetables in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until almost dry. Season with 3 or four grinds of fresh black pepper, 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1 tsp. of Cajun seasoning or to taste.

3. Slice the Andouille or smoked sausage into 1/8 inch rounds and put in the bowl with the rest of the seasoning and pickle meat or smoked ham.

4. Put the sweated vegetables in the bowl covered, in fridge overnight. (with the pickled pork if using it)

5. Get out the crock pot. Wash beans in and remove any debris and bad beans. Put the beans in the crock pot and just cover with water. Stir in 1/2 tsp. of salt, 1 to 3 grinds of black pepper and a 1/2 tsp. of Cajun Seasoning, and place 1 bay leaf in the water. Do not soak for more than 10 hours.

The Next Morning:

1. Turn the crock pot on high. Get the bowl of vegetables and meat out of the fridge and put into the crock pot. Add the 8 oz. of tomato sauce and add water until up to the rim. Best to put the crock pot on a baking sheet with sides to catch the run over once the pot begins to boil.

2 .Cook on high for 4 – 6 hours, after which, reduce to low until the beans are tender. Keep water level near the top. Recycle the water that overflows onto the baking sheet.

3. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

4. Cook 2-2 1/2 cups of long grain rice. I like to have enough for leftovers – if there are any!

5. Serve over steaming white rice with French bread, or garlic bread, and a nice green salad. Serves about 6 to 8.

Well tomorrow is Monday. Which means it is Camellia red beans day. And as you can see I have just washed my Camellia red beans and I’m going to put them in the crock pot and fill it with water for tonight.
Tomorrow, I dump my vegetables and meat into the crock pot, turn it on early in the morning and by 2 or 3 maybe 4 o’clock the beans will be ready and the rice will be cooking!

Notes:

“If we don’t have pickle meat, we don’t do red beans.”

Pickle pork, or pickle meat is only available in Louisiana. Savoie and Richards puts it out and I like Savoie’s better. It can be ordered online from Cajun Grocer, but it’s expensive. Mostly the shipping. Order a dozen or so and it’s not too bad. Usually though, I just wait to go home, and get a dozen packs or so. Pickle pork is very lean pork that has been pickled. It was a way of preservation before refrigeration. Not to be confused with salted pork. My mother and both my grandmother’s used both sausage and pickled pork in their red beans.

“a pinch, dash, and a smidgen”

I have a little measuring spoon trio that measures a pinch, dash, and a smidgen. A pinch is between a dash and a smidgen, with a smidgen being the smallest measurement of the three.
Dash- 1/8 teaspoon
Pinch- 1/16 teaspoon
Smidgen- 1/32 teaspoon

“if the kids like it, they will continue the custom and you have another easy meal that feeds a lot!”

I don’t like to over season my food. I put enough seasoning to suit the taste of the person who least likes a lot of seasoning – just a slight after-burn. Then, I put the peppers in vinegar, and Cajun Seasoning on the table with the pepper and salt. You want it more seasoned, then you can do it your self at the table. I cook with what taste kids will eat; because if the kids like it, they will continue the custom and you have another easy meal that feeds a lot!