New Years Peas & Ham

We need all the luck we can get so today I made Black eyed Peas with Ham, mixed greens and  cornbread.  For the peas you will need:

• 1/2 large green bell pepper chopped
• 1/2 large yellow onion chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 C of cubed ham
• 1 15 oz can of black eyed peas
• 1 C of chicken broth or stock
• To make the pea dish I sauteed 1/2 green bell pepper chopped, 1/2 yellow onion chopped, 3 cloves garlic chopped for about 4 minutes.  I added 1 cup of cubed ham (leftover from Christmas) and cooked an additional 3 minutes just to get the smokiness out of the ham.  I then added 1 15 oz can of black eyed peas, 1/2 C of basmati rice and 1 C of chicken stock.  I stirred to mix it all the ingredients.  I brought it to a boil, covered and reduced heat and simmered for 20 minutes.

I bought Glory canned mixed greens which were ok, but not great.  Not sure what they should taste like, but again they were just ok.

For the corn bread.  I preheated my oven to 450.  I took my cast iron skillet and added 2 tbsp of bacon fat to it and placed it in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes.  Yes, I store leftover bacon fat in a container in my fridge and use it periodically.  Anyway, for the corn bread you will need:

1 C of Martha White Self Rising White Corn Meal Mix

3/4 C of milk

2 tbsp of bacon fat.

Mix the corn meal and milk together and then add the hot melted bacon fat.  Mix together, pour into hot cast iron skillet and bake for about 20 minutes in the oven.  This corn bread is very thin and crunchy, not fluffy at all, so you might not like it if you're used to fluffy cake like corn bread.

Anyway, that's all their was to this meal.  Let's hope it brings us lots of good fortune in 2013.  Good Eats in 2013!!

Hoppin Jon w/ Andouille & Bacon

I took this recipe from Sunny Anderson and modified it to work w/ what I had on hand. Instead of the Cannelini Beans I used the traditional Blackeyed Peas that I had in the freezer. I also used 1.5 cups of brown basmati rice, this rice only takes about 25-30 minutes to cook. I followed the recipe until I got to the bean part. I added the peas and the rice to the pot and covered with 3 1/4 C of chicken stock, stirred the mixture, brought to a boil, covered and reduced to simmer for 30 minutes. This is a very easy, fairly quick and yummy dish! I will definitely make again. If you would like to try it click HERE for the recipe.