a taste of the south-hoppin' john

Hoppin' John is a southern classic. It's basically just stewed black eyed peas and rice. You usually only hear about it around New Years, but down south we eat it year round. To read about why we eat it every January 1st check out my post: A Culinary History Lesson- New Year's Traditions.

Every family has a different recipe, and everyone thinks theirs is the best. I've never had bad hoppin' john, so its safe to say no matter which recipe you use it will turn out tasty. But one things for sure, no matter who is cooking it for you it will have black eyed peas, some form of pork (usually smoked, and usually ham hock), and rice (either cooked with or served over).

For this recipe I used fresh peas. Around the end of the year when the grocery stores put out all the New Years stuff the fresh will be on sale, and they are so much easier than using the dried ones. During the summer time when the peas are harvested you can usually find fresh ones at farmers markets and roadside stands too. But you could totally use dried beans if thats all you can find. Just soak overnight on the counter. One trick to making peas or beans is to hold off on the salt until the very end. Salting the beans too early will make for a tough bean, or so the wives tale goes.

This recipe isn't an exact science, and I swear it changes a little bit every time I make it, but these are the main ingredients (the only thing that really changes are the amounts), and this is the way that I made it on New Year's Day. This is a great dish for a big meal when you have a lot of stuff in the oven and a lot of prep work to do, because it sits on the back burner for a couple hours and takes care of itself.

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Hoppin' John
Feeds 6 as a main meal or 8-10 as a side dish

24 oz fresh shelled black eyed peas
one small green bell pepper, small dice
1/2 onion, small dice
1 stalk of celery, super small dice
one tomato, seeded and chopped (you could peel it too if you're an overachiever)
box of chicken stock
smoked ham hock
a few sprigs of thyme, 3-5
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt, to taste

Rinse the black eyed peas and pick them over for small rocks or bad peas.

Saute the veg on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until translucent and softened.

Add the rest of the ingredients, EXCEPT FOR THE SALT!!! Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for about an hour and a half. Now do the five bean (slash pea) test. Take out 5 beans and taste them. If all 5 are tender you are good to go, if not cook longer. Repeat. If all 5 beans pass the test you may salt. After salting I continue to cook at a low simmer until the beans start to look kind of creamy. This batch of mine sat on the stove for close to 2 hours. Fish out the thyme twigs before you serve to your guests. Serve over buttered rice. A recipe for which may be found here: Perfect White Rice Every Time.