Hoppin' John is a cheap, delicious, and pretty nutritious one-pot dinner- a great way to enjoy your New Year's day black eyed peas. (Or on any day for that matter) The addition of bacon adds some savory smoky flavor, and the red pepper flakes give it a nice kick of heat. Black eyed peas don't take as long to cook as dry beans, and you should check them often to avoid over-cooking... as I learned from experience. This is a hearty & warm winter dinner, but could also be eaten as a side dish with something like pork tenderloin. The recipe came from Michael Ruhlman's website.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound black-eyed peas, rinsed and picked through
- 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 large onions, one peeled and quartered, one medium diced
- 2 carrots, cut in half
- 4 bay leaves
- kosher salt to taste
- 8 ounces bacon, cut into 1/4-inch strips (preferably slab bacon)
- 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoons red pepper flakes (or more if you like it really hot)
- 1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
- One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Directions:
In a large pot, combine the rinsed black eyed peas with the quartered onion, carrots, and three bay leaves with 1 teaspoon salt Add the chicken broth and then enough water to cover the beans and vegetables by about 3 inches. This was a great opportunity to use our new ladle which has a built in measuring cup. It was great for adding the chicken stock.
Put the pot over high heat, bring it to a simmer, then turn the burner
to medium low and continue to cook until the beans are tender, 60 to 90
minutes. (As a note, mine simmered for about 60 minutes and they were a bit over-cooked. So test them earlier just in case). Add 1 more teaspoon of salt midway through the cooking. Reserve 1-2 cups of
the cooking liquid. Strain the peas, picking out and discarding the
onion, carrots and bay leaves. Pour the peas back into the pot until ready to add to the rest of the dish but keep off the heat.
Meanwhile, in a large pot, cook the bacon over medium-low
heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is browned.
Add the medium
diced onion, chopped garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook
until the onion is softened and translucent and beginning to brown, 5 to
10 minutes.
Add the cumin, pepper flakes, and black pepper, turn the
burner to medium, and stir to combine the seasonings with the onion. Add
the juice from the tomatoes. Then add the whole tomatoes, crushing them in
your hands as they go into the pot. Add the last bay leaf. Bring
this to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or so to reduce and thicken the
sauce.
Next, stir in the black eyed peas and heat through. Add some or all of the reserved cooking liquid if the mixture looks a little dry. Taste for more salt and/or pepper. Serve hot and enjoy!
Sean always finds great recipes from Food & Wine- such as this pot pie which was delicious and comforting. We made a few minor changes, and halved the recipe to make just one large pot pie. This isn't your typical pot pie with actual pie crust, rather it is topped with cheddar biscuit batter that bakes along with the pie filling. It is much easier than going through the process of making a pie crust from scratch, in my opinion. And the result is delicious fluffy biscuits on top of the savory chunky filling. Yum!
Ingredients:
Pot Pie Filling:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 3/4 lb carrots, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 3/4 lb celery root or parsnips, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 1/4 lb ground beef
- 2 Italian sausage links, removed from casing
- 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1/8 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 5 oz frozen peas (about a cup)
- salt and pepper
Biscuit Topping: Follow our cheddar garlic biscuit recipe, eliminating the garlic and reducing the salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter and add the oil. Saute the carrots and celery root or parsnips with 1/2 teaspoon of salt for about 10 minutes, turning the heat to medium-high. As you can see in the picture, we used celery root which had an amazing flavor, so I would definitely recommend it if you can find it at the store.
When the vegetables have softened and are slightly browned, add the ground beef and sausage with an additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt, breaking up the meat as it browns. Sprinkle in the thyme and rosemary. We used a handy fresh herb grater that we got as a Christmas gift to mince and add the herbs. Cook for about 10 minutes, until all the pink is gone and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Stir in the flour and cook for 2 more minutes. Next add the milk and chicken stock, and simmer until thickened. (5-7 minutes)
Stir in the peas and cook a couple minutes longer, tasting for more salt and pepper. Pour the mixture in a 9x13 deep baking dish.
While the vegetable beef mixture is cooking, prepare your biscuit batter, following our recipe for cheddar biscuits as I mentioned above.
Place 12 even scoops of batter on top of your pie filling in the casserole dish. We used an ice cream scoop, and then added a little more to each one with the rest of the batter that was left.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until the biscuits are turning golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Buffalo chicken dip is a classic crowd-pleaser and we especially like to make it when we have friends over to watch football. You get the buffalo chicken flavor without the mess of chicken wings. Mixed with the creamy cheese, I have to say it is far more tasty than eating plain buffalo chicken. Opting out of the canned and bottled ingredients, we like to use fresh shredded chicken and homemade blue cheese dressing in our recipe. I also add some diced celery for a little texture and crunch. This makes enough for about 6, so double the recipe for a big crowd.
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups shredded chicken (I usually boil the chicken if I don't have any already cooked)
- 4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup blue cheese dressing (recommend home-made, recipe below)
- 1/2 cup hot sauce (recommend Frank's Red Hot)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 celery rib, finely diced
- salt and pepper
Directions:
To make the blue cheese dressing:
In a food processor, combine 3/4 cup heavy cream with 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or gorgonzola, 1/2 cup mayonaisse, and 2 tablespoons white vinegar. Blend and season with salt and pepper to taste. Use 1 cup for this recipe and save the remainder for salad dressing.
To make the dip:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, mix the chicken with the celery, cream cheese, and blue cheese dressing until well blended.
Add the hot sauce and stir to combine. Fold in 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese. Pour the mixture into a small casserole or other baking dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. The perfect opportunity to use our new ceramic dish we got this year for Christmas, which also kept the dip nice and warm long after it was out of the oven.
Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers or chips. Yum!
