Hoppin' John: Beans!

[walkitout]

Yesterday, I made hoppin' john. They were not done before noon, so at least some versions of the good luck thing say I blew it, but whatever. While some say you don't need to soak black eyed peas, I did a quick soak anyway (boil a couple minutes, then soak for a while), then cooked them for an hour. I used Aliza Green's recipe for Hoppin' John (mostly), except I didn't throw out the water at any point. I figured, these are Old World Beans, and recent crop and I was going to cook them thoroughly. I figured the gas wouldn't be a problem. And it was not, for whatever reason.

I left the salt pork/bacon out, so it was a vegetarian recipe, possibly vegan (that is, I don't remember putting anything in that would make it not vegan, like, say, honey). A little garlic, a little onion, some fresh thyme (which I had!). I didn't measure the water at any point and was making a half recipe so I was a little concerned about whether it would match up correctly, but the water did eventually absorb and it was very pretty. Sprinkle a little chipotle on top and it was good. The rest is in the fridge, so we'll see how it tastes on days 2, 3, etc.

Happy New Year!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I made Hoppin' John, too. Does your version have rice? Mine was essentially a pilaf thing. It had both bacon and a couple tablespoons of butter (was supposed to have ham, too), so wouldn't have worked for you, but was good -- the butter made it smell of popcorn. Really good popcorn.

Smoked paprika is very good on things that are traditionally bacon-enhanced, by the way. I'm going to try a veggie version with smoked paprika and maybe more garlic or something. There ought to be some kind of oil that would be good -- don't think sesame will do.

Helen S.

Rice and Beans! (beans!)

[walkitout]

Yup, mine has rice. Not much else, tho. I used some olive oil. The chipotle has a smoky flavor that is, as you say, reminiscent of the missing bacon. I didn't know there was smoked paprika; I'll keep an eye out for it. That would be nice, without the bite that T. sometimes objects to.