How to Prepare Texas-Style Hopping John

This is a famous Southern dish, supposedly named after a one-legged slave.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• 1 pound of black-eyed peas
• 1 bell pepper
• 2 tomatoes
• sea salt
• 4 cups of chicken stock
• 1 pound of bacon
• freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 cup of basmati rice
• 2 ½ quarts of boiling water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon of basil
• ¾ pound of salt pork
• 1 Vidalia onion

1. Boil the rice and grind the black pepper. Chop the stem off the bell pepper, core the pepper, slice it in half, remove the seeds and inner membranes and chop the pepper roughly.
2. Boil the tomatoes, place them in a sieve to drain, then peel them after they cool and mix with the basil.
3. Fry the bacon, drain it on paper towels and crumble it when it cools off.
4. Check the peas for stones, dirt, sticks and other debris, then wash the peas thoroughly and drain them in a sieve.
5. Place the peas in a pot, cover them with water, introduce salt, pepper, bay leaf, stock, bell pepper, salt pork and onion and boil until the peas get soft.
6. Boil the rice in a different pot and after it cooks, drain it in a sieve.
7. Spoon the rice onto a serving dish, and top with the peas, the tomatoes and the bacon bits, in that order.