How to Make Hoppin' John for New Year's Day

Hoppin' John is a traditional black-eyed pea and sausage soup served on New Year's Day. Typically a southern dish, the custom of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is said to bring good luck throughout the New Year. On New Year's Day or any other day Hoppin' John is a simple and delicious meal.

Things You'll Need

• Large stock pot
• Dried or frozen black-eyed peas
• Water
• Long grain rice
• Ham hock, bacon or sausage
• Vegetables

Instructions

1. Soak or par boil one bag of dried and sorted black-eyed peas. You can also use one bag of frozen black-eyed peas which makes this a much quicker meal to prepare.

2. Rinse the peas and cover with four cups of cold water.

3. Add one ham hock, left over chopped ham slices or four to five pieces of good bacon. Some places in the south substitute some spicy sausage for the ham.

4. Add one large can of stewed tomatoes, one chopped onion, a chopped green pepper, several cloves of garlic and salt and pepper. This is where you can get creative. If you like other vegetables like carrots or celery, add those as well. For a little spice, add a chopped jalapeno pepper.

5. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cover and simmer for one or two hours or until the peas are swollen and tender. If using frozen peas, you'll only need to simmer for about thirty minutes.

6. Rinse two cups of long grain rice in a strainer until the water runs clear. Add to pot, turn up the heat and bring to a boil.

7. Boil for one minute and reduce heat to a very low simmer. Cover pot and simmer for fifteen minutes or until rice is tender and much of the liquid is absorbed.

Tips & Warnings

• Sauté onions, garlic, carrots and celery before adding frozen peas.

• Good Hoppin' John is more like a thick stew than soup. Served with cornbread or biscuits it's a hardy meal on its own.

• Don't prepare many side dishes with this meal. This is a very filling dish that goes well with just a light dessert.