Red Beans And Ricely Yours

The great Louis Armstrong used to sign off correspondence with "red beans and ricely yours."  Which I think is a signal of just how integral the dish is to everyday New Orleans family cuisine.

It really is comfort eating at its finest when done well, and given that it's a dish that can pretty much cook on its own all day once you get it started? 

It's a great thing for the cook.

Which is, no doubt, how it came to be the traditional Monday supper in NOLA -- because Mondays also used to be the day that laundry got done back when laundry was an all day affair for the lady of the house. 

Being able to throw on a pot of beans to simmer without much fuss had to have been an enormous blessing while you were up to your elbows in Borax.


The Times-Picayune newspaper has a great recipe for red beans and rice that called for throwing all the ingredients in the pot and letting them soak overnight, then just popping it on the stove the next morning.  Easiest meal ever, perhaps.  Especially if you have a rice cooker and only have to throw your rice in there to cook alongside the beans on the counter.

Enjoy your day.  I'll be having a very large cafe au lait as soon as possible...


(Lovely photo of a Garden District porch via shutterbug_zzz.)