Black-eyed peas are commonly served for New Years as they are said to bring luck and I hardly need an excuse to eat more beans! Hoppin’ John is a southern rice and beans dish that uses black-eyed peas which makes it perfect for New Years cooking. The black-eyed peas are slowly simmered with a ham hock or bacon until the get nice and creamy and they absorb all of that amazing smokey flavour. After the beans are done simmering the meat from the ham hock can be pulled from the bone and shredded to make the Hoppin’ John a bit heartier. The recipe for Hoppin’ John that I like to use is a slightly modified version of Emeril Lagasse’s and it is pretty easy to make though it does require some time to properly bring out all of the flavours. Other than the fat in the meat this dish is pretty healthy and I like to serve it on top of steamed brown rice and to top it with steamed collard greens which are also said to be lucky for the new year.
Happy New Year!
Hoppin’ John
Black-eyed peas simmered with a smoky ham hock until creamy and tender and full of flavour!
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 1/2 cup green pepper, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
- 2 cups black-eyed peas, soaked overnight and rinsed
- 4 cups ham broth or chicken broth or chicken stock
- 1 small ham hock (or 2 cups cubed ham)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- cayenne to taste
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 4 green onions, sliced
directions
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Add the onions, celery and pepper and cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the peas, broth, ham hock, bay leaf, thyme, cayenne, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce the temperature and simmer until the black-eyed peas are creamy and tender, about 60 minutes, adding more broth if required.
- Remove the ham hock and shred the pork and mix it into the black eyed peas.
- Serve over steamed rice and garnish with green onions.
Happy New Year, Kevin! I agree, I never need an excuse to eat more beans! 🙂
Happy New Year…..a classic for New Years…..it looks wonderful!
mutlu yıllar…
This sounds like a pretty healthy way to kick off the new year! Plus it's full of luck…what else could you ask for?
II love beans too. It looks fantastic!
Happy New Year 🙂
Black eyed peas are the food of the week. Yum!
Looks delicious !! Happy New Year Kevin!
I made the same thing for New Year's Day! Felt any good luck yet? I'm still waiting! 🙂
this looks so healthy. i love eating beans… great way to start the new year. you have some incredible recipes.
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe.