If you like thick and smooth white beans, use Navy beans, which get creamy when cooked. If you want a bean that will better hold its shape and texture, use Great Northern. Though slightly larger, Great Northerns cook more quickly than Navy beans, so adjust cooking time accordingly. Serve with white rice or spooned over jambalaya.
Rouse Family Recipe
Uncle Tim’s White Beans
Ingredients
2 pounds Navy or Great Northern beans, rinsed and sorted (soaked overnight)
2 tablespoons bacon grease, like Hot Belly
1 pound Rouses Smoked Sausage, sliced in ¼-inch rounds
1 large green onion
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 large stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 pound tasso, salt meat or pickled pork
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Cooked rice
Hot sauce or vinegar, for serving
Directions
Soak beans overnight in a bowl. Drain and rinse them before cooking.
Warm a heavy-bottomed 12-quart pot over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add bacon grease and heat for 30 seconds. Add sausage and cook, turning as needed until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes.
Trim and discard the root end and very top of the green onion. Chop the remaining part of the onion, separating into two piles.
Add green onion tops, yellow onion, celery, garlic and bay leaf; stir to combine. Add beans and pork meat, and cover with water. Cover pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Boil for 10 minutes then reduce heat to a low simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring often, until the beans are tender, scrapping the bottom of the pot, about 2 hours.
Turn off heat. Remove and discard bay leaves.
Taste and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with green onion bottoms. Serve beans over rice or jambalaya.
