Black eyed peas are a Southern tradition. The custom is to serve them with collard greens and some type of pork on New Year's Day for good luck and prosperity. No two recipes are the same. Some use kale. I used spinach simply because I had it on hand. Some use sausages, but most rely on ham hocks or shanks and most is served over white rice although some add the rice directly to the dish as it cooks. If you like bean soup, you will like black-eyed peas.
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| Soak your peas in water overnight, changing the water a few times. I put them in a colander and place that in a bowl. Just lift, rinse, and then replace the water. |
Hoppin John
- 1 1/2 - 2 lbs. smoked ham shanks
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 cups chicken stock or a combination of water and chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups dry black eyed peas
- 1 10-oz. box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 can stewed tomatoes, broken apart
- 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cumin seed, freshly crushed (optional but it adds a lot of flavor)
- 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chopped green onions
- 1 1/2 cups raw white rice
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon dried onion
Rinse and pat dry the ham shanks. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven and brown the ham shanks on all sides. When done, remove to plate.
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| Ham shanks have more meat than a ham hock, but both are inexpensive and filled with flavor. |
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| Browning the shanks intensifies the flavor and releases the fat in which to saute the vegetables. |
Add a bit more oil to the pot and add the chopped onion, celery, green pepper, jalapeno and cook until soft, scraping up the brown bits left over from the ham in the pan. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add the cumin, the chopped garlic and the red pepper flakes and stir just until fragrant. Add the black-eye peas then the tomatoes, juice and all. Add the chicken stock, the ham shanks and any liquid that has collected on the plate. Bring to a slow boil, lower heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 1 1/2 hours until beans are soft and tender.
Remove shanks from pot and allow to cool. Add the smoked paprika. Taste. If you'd like it hotter, add a few shakes of Tabasco. Re-season with salt, pepper, cumin if needed.
Pour 3 cups water into a pan and add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon dried onion. Add the 1 1/2 cups raw rice. Stir. Bring to a boil then lower to simmer and cover until done. Set aside.
Remove the meat from the bones and cut up.
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| Save the bones. Using a small spoon or knife, remove the marrow and feed to your cat or dog--they love it. |
Add meat back to the beans in the pot. Now add the chopped spinach and stir. The mixture will be like a thick soup.
To serve: place rice on plate, spoon over the Hoppin John and sprinkle with the green onion. If desired, you can also sprinkle with crumbled bacon.
Notes: Cumin has a distinct flavor. If you are not used to it, add less rather than more. You can always re-season it. Hoppin John is great served with any type of smoked sausage.
