Oak Alley Chicken and Ham Pilaf

Evergreen, Nottoway, Madewood, Laura—these and other restored Mississippi River plantations dot the Louisiana landscape along “River Road” from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, and none is more regal than the two-story, white-columned, Greek Revival Oak Alley plantation at Vacherie, where I was once served a chicken and ham pilaf much like this one in the mansion’s cypress-paneled dining room. Down in New Orleans, the dish would probably be called jambalaya, while over in the Carolinas and Georg