New Year's Day Good Luck Hoppin' John

My take on Hoppin' John. I liked it even better than the gumbo I made for Christmas dinner, and that's saying a lot. They say if you eat black eyed peas for the new year you'll be lucky, or is it get lucky? Either way, it's been a good 4 days so far!!!

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New Year's Day Good Luck Hoppin' John
serves 4

1 cup black eyed peas
12 oz mixed meats (ham, bacon, smoked sausage, etc.), chopped
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 bay leaf
1t fresh thyme leaves
2c chicken stock (+ 1c water, as needed)

Rinse and sort peas, put in 4c hot water. Cover, bring to a boil, and boil rapidly for 2 min. Turn heat off, and let sit for 1 hour. Then strain and rinse peas.

Using a large pot, brown meat, about 10 min. in a little olive oil. Add onion, cook until translucent, about 5 min. Then add bell pepper and celery, cook until soft, 5 min.

Add peas, herbs, and stock, enough to barely cover. Season with creole seasoning, salt and pepper. Cover, bring to boil, reduce heat. Simmer for 30 min., stirring occasionally. Test peas after 30 min.; they should be tender, but not mushy or soft. If still firm, cook additional time (10 min.?); if tender, remove lid and cook for 15 min. more until the liquid evaporates and thickens. Add a few dashes of Tabasco. Season to taste.

Serve over white rice and top with green onions.

Easy Chile Verde

Here's a recipe for a delicious standard-style Green Chili that I love over rice with a little cheese and sour cream. It's a little tangy with a great texture because of the pureed tomatillos, and just enough heat from the chiles. This is a recipe I adapted from Rachel Ray. I cook it longer than what she originally called for; and I also made a few other changes.


Easy Chile Verde
6 servings

Ingredients

* 3 large poblano peppers
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 pounds ground chicken or ground turkey
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
* 1 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 12 large or 16 medium to small tomatillos, peeled, rinsed and halved
* 1/4 cup cilantro, a handful
* 2 cups chicken stock
* 1 tablespoon honey
* Salt and pepper

Directions

Heat the broiler to high. Place the poblanos under hot broiler and char until blackened an all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Leave the door of the oven cracked to allow the steam to escape. Place the peppers in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow the peppers to cool enough to handle.

While peppers char, heat extra-virgin olive oil in a high sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and lightly brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in onions, jalapeno and garlic and cook to soften onions about 5 minutes. While onions cook, place tomatillos and cilantro in the food processor and process until smooth. Pour the tomatillos into the chicken mixture and stir to combine. Stir in chicken stock and honey, season with salt and pepper and simmer chili 30 minutes.

When poblano peppers are cool enough to handle, remove seeds and chop, stir into chili. Simmer until thick, at least 10 minutes up to an hour on low heat.

Serve over rice, or tortillas, with cheese and sour cream.

(Make a 'bake' out of it: Pour chili into greased casserole. Cover with crushed tortilla chips and then cheese. Place under the broiler until browned and bubbly. Top with sour cream and serve.)

cooking caveats

Something I should mention, to fully understand where I am coming from as a cook, is that for the most part I don't use a lot of fat/oil/butter, I use little to no dairy, and I am try to be wheat-free. I believe the recipes are still pretty normal and everyone I cook for thinks so too!

I like cooking Southern food, even though I'm in Southern CALIFORNIA. I also like adapting French Provincial countryside dishes, one pot meals, all types of chilis...

4/14/10 - dinner

Tonight's dinner is barbecue sauce marinated pork tenderloin medallions, Emeril's Sweet Potato Pudding, and steamed green beans.

First, I cut the tenderloin into 3/4" medallions. They are marinating in a splash of my good friend Dan's Liquid Gold (homemade award-winning BBQ sauce), juice of 1/2 a lemon and 1 orange, and some rosemary. The rosemary in our garden is going CRAZY so I'm pretty much using it in everything. They are going to go on a hot grill pan for 4-5 min. a side.

In the oven is something easy and delicious. I adapted the recipe from Emeril Lagasse's cookbook "Louisiana Real and Rustic".
Here's my adapted recipe.

-Sweet Potato Pudding-
Preheat oven to 350°
Mash together in a large bowl:
40oz can sweet potatoes - drained
2 eggs
3/4 c milk (soy works fine, too)
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 c lightly packed brown sugar
1 T molasses or cane syrup
1/4 t salt
1-2 T butter, softened (I typically err on the side of less fat)
splash of vanilla extract
1 T booze (rum, bourbon, whiskey, scotch)
Stir in:
1/2 pecan pieces
Pour into a greased 8x8 pan, top with a handful of pecans and a sprinkle of brown sugar if desired, and bake in preheated oven for 45min. or until bubbly and "dry" in the center.

Welcome!

I'm just getting this thing up and running, but after reading way too many food porn sites I've decided to start my own. It's pretty much going to be a catalog of the dinners (and breakfasts and lunches, and desserts) I've cooked . Some photos, recipes (mostly other people's I've made into my own). I hope this will help me be a more organized, responsible, and diligent person in other areas of my life as well. Hopefully, I'll post this weekend... Buttermilk Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.