The last several years, I've explored several different Hoppin' John recipes. This year, I mostly freelanced, but called on what those earlier batches were like. The choice of pork product is important. I went to the grocery store this year thinking I was looking for smoked ham hocks. But then I found that they had some awesome-looking pork jowl bacon and it was even on sale for just a bit over three bucks for a one pound chunk. I cubed a little more than half the bacon and gave it a hard render. I left it and all the rendered fat (it looks like a lot, but leave it there--it's pure flavor!) in the pot and added chopped veggies: small sweet onion, small green pepper, medium jalapeno pepper, three cloves of garlic and a couple ribs of celery:
(Part of the bacon was already in the pot when I remembered to snap this pic).
Once the veggies were cooked, I added some Kosher salt, lots of freshly ground pepper and some McCormick Cajun seasoning. After the seasonings cooked a bit, I added about a quart and a half of unsalted chicken broth and two 12 ounce "fresh" packages of blackeyed peas:
I simmered that about an hour and a half to two hours, until the peas were cooked and the bacon was tender. Since I started this in the morning (to leave time to watch football), I then turned the heat off and let the pot sit on the stove three hours or so.
For greens, my CSA basket had Brussels sprouts greens that look very much like collards and some really nice spinach:
I got the pot back into a simmer and added the chopped greens. I let those go five minutes or so to start wilting and then added a cup and a half of uncooked basmati rice. I decided to add a touch more broth as the rice went in, as the peas really plumped up while sitting. Another 30 minutes or so of simmering got the rice cooked, and the consistency was just what I was shooting for. We always put malt vinegar on this. Definitely my best batch so far.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2020 to each of you.
(Part of the bacon was already in the pot when I remembered to snap this pic).
Once the veggies were cooked, I added some Kosher salt, lots of freshly ground pepper and some McCormick Cajun seasoning. After the seasonings cooked a bit, I added about a quart and a half of unsalted chicken broth and two 12 ounce "fresh" packages of blackeyed peas:
I simmered that about an hour and a half to two hours, until the peas were cooked and the bacon was tender. Since I started this in the morning (to leave time to watch football), I then turned the heat off and let the pot sit on the stove three hours or so.
For greens, my CSA basket had Brussels sprouts greens that look very much like collards and some really nice spinach:
I got the pot back into a simmer and added the chopped greens. I let those go five minutes or so to start wilting and then added a cup and a half of uncooked basmati rice. I decided to add a touch more broth as the rice went in, as the peas really plumped up while sitting. Another 30 minutes or so of simmering got the rice cooked, and the consistency was just what I was shooting for. We always put malt vinegar on this. Definitely my best batch so far.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2020 to each of you.
Comment