Classic Hoppin Johns

During a recent visit to the Mennonite Farm Market, Bev picked up some purple-hulled field peas (similar to black-eyed peas) and after shelling she had four cups.  I went in search of recipes that would be different than just cooking them like dried beans and what I found was the recipe for Classic Hoppin John’s on the Southern Living site.  Since we like to have the peas on New Years Day for good luck, we decided to make the hoppin john’s now for supper and freeze the leftovers to eat on Jan. 1 for good luck.

Classic Hoppin Johns

Ingredients:

6 thick-cut bacon slices, chopped

1½ cups celery stalks, sliced

1½ cups yellow onion, chopped

1 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 Tbsp. garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2½ teaspoon kosher salt, divided

8 cups lower-sodium chicken broth

4 cups fresh or frozen black-eyed peas

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ cups uncooked Carolina Gold rice

Fresh scallions, sliced

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until starting to crisp, about 10 minutes.

2. Add celery, onion, bell pepper, garlic, thyme, black pepper, cayenne, and 2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender, about 8 minutes.

3. Add broth and peas, and bring to a boil over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until peas are tender, about 40 minutes.

4. Drain pea mixture, reserving cooking liquid. Return pea mixture and 1 cup of the cooking liquid to pot. Cover to keep warm; set aside.

5. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high. Add rice and cook, stirring often, until fragrant and lightly toasted, 3 to 4 minutes.

6. Stir in 3 cups of the reserved cooking liquid and remaining ½ teaspoon salt.

7. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook until rice is tender, 15 to 18 minutes.

8. Fluff rice with a fork, and gently stir into pea mixture in the pot.

9. Stir in remaining cooking liquid, ¼ cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached. (Larry didn’t add any)

10. Sprinkle servings with sliced fresh scallions.

The Verdict:

We've made hoppin-johns several times in the past and several had kielbasa or andouille but I decided to post this one as it had about twice the rice of our other versions so I'll call this the rice lovers version.  We really enjoyed this one but I think I prefer more meat and less rice.

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Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

10/19/23 meal date