For years, and always a few days before the New Year, Susan will say, “Bruce, would you make Hoppin’ John for New Year’s Day?” It is a Southern peas and rice dish traditionally served on New Year’s Day.

And finally I make it this year. Not on New Year’s Day but a few days ago on January 9.

It was delicious!

I based my dish on the instructions on the GOYA Blackeye Peas bag. Noted below are my additions.

Ingredients

1 bag of GOYA dry Blackeye Peas
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped (my addition)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup cooked, chopped ham (my addition
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (my addition)
1 teaspoon oregano (my addition)
1/2 teaspoon thyme (my addition
4 roasted tomatoes (see previous Blog post.)
3 cups water
1 cup rice (I cooked the rice separately.)

Directions

Sort and wash beans. In an large 8 quart pot, soak  beans in 4 cups water (I used homemade chicken stock.) DO NOT DRAIN!!! Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Add onion, peppers, celery and cook until tender. Add mixture to beans in pot. Stir in remaining ingredients except for the rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beans are tender (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours). Beans should have about 2 cups of liquid when they are tender. Serve with cooked rice.

Note: a vegan Hoppin’ John could be made by leaving out the bacon and ham. Might want to add some Liquid Smoke.

You can read about the history of the dish at Wikipedia and Serious Eats.

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