Any good recipes for "Hopping John?" No, not the match-in-shoe trick.

And not the whore-monger trying to get his pants on when the private detective starts taking flash pictures.

"Hopping John" is the Carolina New Year's Day staple of black-eyed peas and rice. I'm thinking of making it with the smoked garlic sausage (from Dozier's in Fulshear, TX) that I use in my award-winning chicken and sausage gumbo. Would that be sacrilegious?

I am also serving collard greens, pulled-pork BBQ (I'll cook a Boston butt all day tomorrow over hickory on my wood cooker), slivers of fried salt pork with Jalapeno peppers, and corn bread. My fundy preacher brother-in-law is bringing his homemade bananna pudding for desert. Praise Jay-sus for that B-9-O pudding!

VaYallaDawg

Wed Dec-29-04 03:30 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. Here goes

As somebody noted above, the classic cajun recipe is with hamhocks. In our family we always made it with bacon, it just seems to taste better, also easier to control how much grease gets into the final dish.

To serve 4-6 persons:
1 cup plain rice (not Minute rice)
1 can (16 oz) blackeyed peas
1/2 lb bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups water
1/2 teasp cayenne pepper (or 1 teasp red pepper flakes)
1 teasp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped scallions (white parts and a little of the green)


Brown the bacon and drain on paper towels. Pour out (and reserve) the bacon grease leaving just enough in the skillet to coat the bottom. Cook the chopped onion in the skillet until soft, 4-5 mins. Remove the onion, put it into a medium-size (2-3 qt) saucepan which has a cover.

Next brown the rice slightly (3-4 mins) in the bacon grease, adding a few drops of grease if needed to keep it from sticking. The rice will "hop" a little during this stage, which some people believe to be another source for the name of the dish. Add the rice to the onion in the saucepan.

Drain the peas in a colander and rinse (to get rid of that yukky canned taste). Add them to the rice and onion mixture. Add 2 cups water, season with Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until the rice absorbs all the water, about 20 minutes. Crumble the bacon and add it and the scallions to the mixture, taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as desired. Cajun spices are also great in this (try Zatarain's) but be careful not to overdo it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2309569

That's the only recipe I've seen recently. I think I'll go see if Mama Dipp has a recipe too.

BRB...

edit: No she didn't, just a place to order the book. Mama Dip's is a tarheel institution. She does all the old-timey cooking. :9

I'll also use dried peas, so I'll have to cook them first.

:9

garlic sausage sounds good though. :-)

But they had been in my freezer for a while. I'll report back on how the smoked garlic sausage does. I think it will be great.

I soak them overnight.

I've never heard of Hoppin' John, but this sounds so good, I'm going to cook some up!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2309569

:hi:

It will be a big pot of collards, cooked in organic chicken broth and black pepper.