New Years Feast

The holiday week, that week between Christmas and New Year is when we put away things from the old year and prepare for the new year. It is also a time of reflection, a time of planning, and a time of change.

This year I am quite grateful for family, extended family, and friends, (new and old). May we all prosper, and just to make sure, I’m taking a few extra precautions and creating a classic Southen New Year’s day meal. (Just for luck.)

For my New Years’ feast, I’ll fall back to a menu that has been part of my family for generations. A simple meal of Blackeyed peas, Collards, Cornbread, and Baked Ham. All of which have traditions of providing prosperity and good luck in the coming year.

We will not mention that the rich food will help one recover from any over-indulgences from the night prior.

From Wikipedia:

Lucky New Year food
In the Southern United States, eating black-eyed peas or Hoppin’ John (a traditional soul food) on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity in the new year. The peas are typically cooked with a pork product for flavoring (such as bacon, fatback, ham bones, or hog jowls) and diced onion, and served with a hot chili sauce or a pepper-flavored vinegar. The traditional meal also includes cabbage, collard, turnip, or mustard greens, and ham. The peas, since they swell when cooked, symbolize prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the pork, because pigs root forward when foraging, represents positive motion.Cornbread, which represents gold, also often accompanies this meal.

For the Blackeyed Peas:

In this specific case, I’ll use the Ham bone from the baked ham.

Black Eyed Peas for New Years

An old Southern Tradition, Peas and Collards for luck

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Soak Time 12 hours hrs

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Southern

Servings 4 people

Calories 452 kcal

Equipment

• Dutch Oven

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 slices Bacon Thick Cut
• 4 cups Black Eyed Peas Picked, Washed, Soaked
• 1 ea Onion Peeled Diced
• 4 ribs Celery Washed, diced
• 1 ea Green Bell Pepper Washed, cored, diced
• 3 cloves Garlic Peeled, minced
• 1 tbsp Fresh Thyme Washed Chopped
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne
• 1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 4 cups Chicken Stock Low Sodium (to cover)

Instructions

 

• Fry off the bacon in the dutch oven, medium high, ~10 minutes, remove / reserve
• Add trinity (onion, celery, bell pepper) and cook until onions are soft and translucent
• Add thyme, garlic black pepper, cayenne, stir until fragrant ~ 1 minute
• Add peas and stock to cover, bring to a boil, thence reduce heat to medium low and simmer until peas are tender.
• Serve over rice or cornbread.

Notes

One can replace the bacon with leftover ham, using olive oil to sautee the trinity.

Trinity, – From Wikipeida:

The holy trinity in Cajun cuisine and Louisiana Creole cuisine is the base for several dishes in the regional cuisines of Louisiana and consists of onions, bell peppers and celery. The preparation of Cajun/Creole dishes such as crawfish étouffée, gumbo, and jambalaya all start from this base.

Variants use garlic, parsley, or shallots in addition to the three trinity ingredients. The addition of garlic to the holy trinity is sometimes referred to as adding “the pope.”

The holy trinity is the Cajun and Louisiana Creole variant of mirepoix; traditional mirepoix is two parts onions, one part carrots, and one part celery, whereas the holy trinity is typically equal measures of the three ingredients or one part onions, one part green bell pepper, and one part celery.

Nutrition

Calories: 452kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 23gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 1401mgPotassium: 897mgFiber: 12gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 393IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 76mgIron: 5mg

Keyword Bacon, Holidays, Peas, Stew

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For the cornbread:

Corn Bread

A simple, corn bread made in the versatile cast-iron skillet. Tastes great and is a good base recipe to experiment with. Cast-iron skillets take a little bit of time to warm up. Pre-warming the skillet allows the corn bread to cook evenly. I’ll add jalapeno and sweet onion as texture enhancers

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Breads, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 1 Loaf

Calories 1543 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup Corn Meal Yellow, of course
• 1 cup AP Flour
• 1 cup Milk Sweet or buttermilk, whole full fat.
• 4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt Kosher, of course
• 1 ea Egg Free Range, Large or better
• 1/4 cup Oil Vegetable, Canola or taste free
• 1/2 Large Sweet Onion Peeled and Diced
• 1 Jalapeno Pepper Large, washed, seeded, stemmed, diced

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 425 F . Place 9-inch cast-iron skillet in oven to warm it.
• Mix corn meal and mix in large bowl; Let rest for 5 minutes
• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into corn meal mixture. Mix onion, jalapeno, and eggs into the corn meal mixture until you have a smooth batter, about 1 minute. Let rest 5 minutes
• Remove skillet and oil, or use butter for more flavor; Pour batter into skillet
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove from oven, turn out and slice into wedges. Serve as a side to chili, beans, or just with butter

Notes

One can add sugar, if one wants, but that would be corn cake.

One can add 1 can of creamed corn

One can add diced bell red and green bell peppers

One can top with shredded cheddar cheese

Nutrition

Calories: 1543kcalCarbohydrates: 186gProtein: 31gFat: 78gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 1787mgPotassium: 3158mgFiber: 19gSugar: 27gVitamin A: 546IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 1249mgIron: 9mg

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For the Collards:

Collard Greens

Just plain home cooking. Add bacon and a vinegar-based hot sauce for a spicy kick

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Servings 4 Persons

Calories 215 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4-6 Slices Bacon Thick Cut, cut to 1/2" pieces
• 1 ea Onion Peeled, diced
• 2 cloves Garlic Minced
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1/4 cup Vinegar Apple Cider is great here
• 2 lb Collard Greens Washed, Stemmed, Sliced to 1/8"
• 2 tbsp Sugar Optional
• 1 cup Chicken Stock
• Hot Sauce To taste

Instructions

 

• Add the bacon to a large skillet over medium heat, and cook until it begins to brown around the edges, stirring occasionally.
• Add the onion and cook until it's softened and starting to take color.
• Add the garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, and hot sauce.
• Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add the vinegar and simmer. We are reducing by half and scraping the bottom of the skillet.
• Add the collard greens and the chicken stock.
• Return to a simmer. Reduce the temperature to medium-low.
• Cook, occasionally stirring, until the collard greens have wilted.
• Taste, Season, and balance the flavor, adding vinegar and hot sauce as desired.
• Serve with pot liquor (sauce) from the pan.

Notes

Service options include siding with fresh cornbread, butter, and additional bacon or ham.

One can add sliced hot peppers along with the onion to uplift the spice.

Nutrition

Calories: 215kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 11gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 852mgPotassium: 600mgFiber: 9gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 11394IUVitamin C: 81mgCalcium: 534mgIron: 1mg

Keyword Bacon, Collard, Greens, Sautee, Southern

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