Growing up in the South ingrains some traditions so deeply they become instinctive.
Eating blackeyed peas on New Years day is one of those traditions.
For at least some southerners, respecting blackeyed peas dates back to somewhere in the vicinity of 1860 around the time of General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march through the South destroying a variety of food stores and crops, but leaving the blackeyed pea crops intact. Seems the General and his commanders figured the lowly blackeyed pea was cattle fodder and not fit for humans.
Wonder if that’s why they also call the blackeyed pea the cowpea? And the general couldn’t have been more wrong about blackeyed peas.
Years ago in Salt Lake we used to fish with a guy named Reggie; he was from New Orleans and never failed to regale us with stories about how much bigger redfish were / are than western trout (he was right of course).
Reggie understood ‘soul food’ very well and introduced us one New Years Day to his version of Hoppin’ John. It’s the version we keep coming back to, and you will too once you try this one.
It’s not too late to ensure a better 2014 with a big bowl of Reggie’s Hoppin’ John this weekend.
1 lb. bag dried black eyed peas
1 meaty ham hock
1 lb. good bacon, 3/4 inch dice
2 large onions, chopped medium
3 celery stalks including leaves, chopped small
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder (and more to taste)
1 tbsp. thyme leaves (dried works here)
1-3 tbsp. Tabasco or Crystal
1-2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1-2 tsp. seasoned saltPot of rice
Soak. Soak the peas in 6 cups cold water overnight. Drain.
Build with bacon. Grab your heavy dutch oven and sauté the bacon until the fat is rendered, but don’t crisp the bacon. Add the onions and celery and sauté until soft, then add the beans, water to cover by an inch, ham hock, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and hot sauce.
Stir well and simmer for an hour and a half, adding water as needed.
Finish it up. At about ninety minutes, taste for seasoning. Now is the time to add more hot sauce as well as the salt and pepper. Reggie insisted that adding more onion powder boosts the umami flavors without adding more salt – he’s right. Keep stirring now and then and keep an eye on the water, you may need to add a bit more as the beans finish over the next 30-45 minutes.
Rice time. Cook your pot of rice during the final cook above.
Serve it up. We like to serve this one in a big bowl with a scoop of rice on the bottom and a pile of Hoppin’ John on top. My grandmother Ma-Ma (maw maw), a true southern cook from South Texas, would have served this on New Years day topped with some fresh, bacon-enriched southern greens.
Enjoy.
