The Daily Grind, Chop and Fry

The Southern New Year’s Day dish, Hoppin’ John, is traditionally made with ham, sausage and chicken stock. Whenever I think of the flavor ham imparts to a dish, the first note that comes to mind is smoke. The secret, I think, to why this dish was such a winner when made without meat was using smoked paprika in the Creole seasoning. It was just luck that I didn’t have any seasoning mix when I went to make this, but had all of the ingredients on hand to make my own. Since most dishes that use this spice mix also use a lot of meat, I went ahead and substituted smoked paprika for the regular. As things started really going in the crock pot, a delicious smell began wafting through the house and I knew I’d made the right decision. A bonus is you get all of that flavor without the fat.

If I’d ever had proper Hoppin’ John, I might call this a vegetarian or vegan version. But I never find myself in the South for New Year’s, so I have no idea how close this comes to the original.  I spend a few weeks in South Carolina at least every other year, and all of the Lowcountry food I’ve eaten has been in the hot summer. Still, it doesn’t much matter to me what I call it; it was delicious.

For some educated guesses as to how black eyed peas came to be a traditional New Year’s dish in the first place, read this post, on what is fast becoming one of my favorite food blogs.

As always, when I made this I cooked a full 16 ounce bag of dried beans, so I doubled this and will freeze enough for another meal. We’ll be glad to see it again.

Happy New Year Black Eyed Peas in the Crock Pot

8 oz. dried black eyed peas
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 small can green chilies
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning
3 or 4 green onions, thinly sliced

Preparation:

Soak beans overnight. Saute onions until soft and translucent. Combine onions, soaked beans, stock, tomatoes, celery, garlic and spices in slow cooker . Cover and cook on High for about 8 hours, until beans are soft but not mushy. Check the pot occasionally and add water to cover as needed. Check seasonings, adjusting if necessary, and add green onion. Allow onions to soften in the crock pot (about 5 minutes) and serve with rice. Serves 6.