Hoppin John

Happy New Year!

Did you eat your Black Eyed Peas for luck? We did! Every New Years Day, I make this version of Hoppin’ John. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure where the recipe sprung from. Some recipes in my binder have been lingering there forever without a place of origin!

Back to the Peas> I’m from Arkansas. You could say I’m kind of Southern. Just a little. Every New Years Day for as long as I was living at home, there would be fried hog jowl {not as nasty as it sounds! Think BACON. Everyone loves BACON!} and Black Eyed Peas {for luck!}.

Do you ever wonder WHY black eyed peas are claimed to be “lucky”? I was raised to believe it to be so, but I can’t remember the WHY of it. ..

So I did some Googling.

Its a mostly Southern superstition with several different versions. I won’t go through all of them and I don’t know which one my family might’ve believed, but my favorite version is from the Civil War.

It says that back then the peas were considered “animal food” and not good enough for Union troops to consume.  So when the Union troops would raid a Confederate camp, they’d take everything but leave the black eyed peas. The Confederate troops considered themselves “lucky” to have ANY food at all left to help them survive the winter.

Anyway, back to the recipe. I wanted to continue the tradition of eating black eyed peas on New Years Day, so I make this tasty {and EASY!} Hoppin’ John every year and we absolutely love it! I make my Skillet Cornbread to serve alongside.

Even if you don’t believe that black eyed peas will bring you luck in the New Year, you should definitely give this recipe a try anyway! I make it throughout the year. Comfort food at its best!

See below a picture of the kind of “Country Ham” I mean for this recipe. I find it at the grocery store near the ham steaks. It’s very similar to salted pork with thick chunks of ham fat on the meat. Alternatively, if you have leftover ham from Christmas Dinner, a good chunk of that would work just great in this recipe.

source for Black Eyed Pea history lesson: http://littlerock.about.com/od/festivals/a/Black-Eyed-Peas-For-New-Years-Luck.htm

What traditions do you follow for the New Year?

Jess Recommends:

• Select options
  
  
  Add to wishlist
  
  Quick View

  Clipart, Digital Papers

  Cowboy Baby Papers

  $5.00
  Rated 0 out of 5( 0 reviews )

• Select options
  
  
  Add to wishlist
  
  Quick View

  Address Labels, Custom Labels

  Baker Address Labels

  $8.00
  Rated 0 out of 5( 0 reviews )

• Select options
  
  
  Add to wishlist
  
  Quick View

  Christmas Labels, Custom Labels

  Happy Holidays Christmas Labels Glitter Tree

  $6.95
  Rated 0 out of 5( 0 reviews )

• Select options
  
  
  Add to wishlist
  
  Quick View

  Custom Labels, Christmas Labels

  Buffalo Plaid Christmas Trees Labels

  $6.95
  Rated 0 out of 5( 0 reviews )

Recipe Card

Print Recipe

Hoppin John

Author: Jessica Courses: Main Course

Servings: 6

Description

Our favorite New Years Day meal. Cozy & LUCKY

Ingredients

Servings

• 1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 carrots (peeled & diced)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 2 stalks celery (diced)
• 4 cans black eyed peas (rinsed & drained)
• 2 cups water
• 1 small pkg salted pork or country ham (chopped)
• salt & pepper (to taste)
• 3 cups cooked white rice

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, onion and celery. Season with salt & pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring often.

2. Add the black eyed peas and 2 cups of water to the skillet. Bring to a boil.

3. Place your salted pork or ham into the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour the black eyed peas mixture over the ham, stir all to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

4. Serve helpings over white rice. Green tabasco sauce is a great optional topping.