A Southern New Years Tradition, Hoppin' John

Hoppin’ John is a southern tradition and is said to bring good luck to those who eat it on New Years Day. The black-eyed peas are said to resemble coins, the collard greens, paper money and the pork is considered good luck in many cultures New Year’s traditions.

We’ve made a few adjustments to what April grew up eating but the heart and soul of the dish remains.

Hoppin’ John

1 lb. black-eyed peas

1 bay leaf

6 rashers thick cut bacon cut into ¼ inch strips (also known as a lardon)

1 arbol chili

2 stalks celery, washed and broken into chunks

¼ of a medium onion trimmed but otherwise left intact

1 clove garlic

2 qt chicken stock

Here is the dilemma. If you put all of the finely chopped veggies in with the peas, the veggies will be mush by the time the peas are done.. If you don’t put them in you don’t get the flavor you want in the peas. The following technique may be the best option. We will cook the peas with a few of the aromatics, enough to flavor the peas, then we will add some sautéed veggies when we finish the other components.

Lets render out the bacon first. Place the lardons in a gallon size stockpot and cook them till they are nice and crisp. Meanwhile, sort through the black-eyed peas. Make sure there is in nothing that should not be there. Then give them a quick rinse.

You may have noticed I didn’t soak the black-eyed peas first. If you want to, go right ahead. I didn’t because it was about 11 pm when I decided to cook this and I didn’t have any in my expansive pantry.

Drain off most of the bacon fat, reserve for a later use, and add the onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, arbol chili and the rinsed and sorted peas. Season with several grinds of black pepper. Next add in the stock and bring this up to a simmer. The next step is very simple. Go watch the game!

How long do you cook this? Until it’s done! It could take an hour or two or more. It all depends on whether you soaked the beans, how hot you are cooking them and I would also add in elevation. I find here at about 6300 feet above sea level beans take a little longer to cook.

You may have noticed I didn’t add any salt or did I? The bacon has plenty of salt to start us off. When the peas are near done we will check for seasoning.

Now that the peas are done, let’s finish the dish.

Finishing, Plating and Consuming

The remaining ¾ of the medium onion, ¼ inch dice

1 medium green bell pepper, ¼ dice

2 stalks celery, ¼ dice

2 good handfuls of cleaned and torn greens. Whatever you want, I used red chard (Collard greens are traditional)

1 cup sliced Andouille sausage

½ cup diced tomato

First, fish out the spent onion and celery. Sweat the fresh veggies in about a tablespoon of olive oil or if you saved it the rendered bacon fat. Season them with salt and pepper. Cook the veggies for about 5 minutes then add them into the pot.

Bring this back to a simmer. Let this cook for about 15 minutes until the veggies are soft.

In the same sauté pan we sweated the veggies render out the Andouille sausage. We are looking for a little color on the edges. When done set aside.

To finish the plate, spoon steamed rice ino the center of a soup bowl, and ladle the black-eyed peas over the rice. Garnish with the Andouille slices, chopped tomato and the greens. Oops, I forgot the greens!

Take the same sauté pan you cooked the Andouille, complete with the rendered fat from the sausage and put it on a high flame. When hot add the greens, season with salt and pepper. Turn the greens with a pair of tongs until they wilt. Garnish the peas with the greens.

May the New Year bring you luck and happiness. Feel free to share, like and drop us an email.

Love,

April and Terry