Home for the Holidays

My heart is full.  I am so happy that over the nine days I was home for the holidays I was able to see so many friends and family, that my heart fills so utterly and completely full that it may burst.  In fact, this may go down as one of the best Christmas holidays I think we’ve had in a long time.  After spending time with family for the first half of the trip, we then booked it back to Greenville for a few days to see friends.  The order of the day was to catch up with as many people as possible during happy hours, dinners, and lunches.  It is almost impossible to see everyone, but I will say we came pretty close.  We drank loads of Rosé Champagne with close friends and burned pieces of paper with our wishes written on them to ring in the New Year.  On New Year's day, we got to enjoy a traditional Southern New Year’s Day lunch of black eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, and braised pork shoulder.  Not only is this meal a longstanding tradition in the South dating back to the Civil War era, but also a tradition we celebrate among friends and have done so the last four years.  We put our best foot forward each New Year's day, each of us vowing to do better than we had in the previous year, and also hoping that by consuming this traditional meal it will actually bring us good luck and money. 

As far back as I can remember growing up my mother made sure that each New Year's Day we ate our traditional meal of pork with Hoppin' John and the addition of either spinach or mustard greens.  We didn't eat the Southern green of choice, collard greens, since she didn't like them and she was the person cooking.  It wasn't until I was well into my 20's that I realized that I actually liked collard greens.  According to Southern lore the pork and peas are for luck and the greens are for money and prosperity in the New Year.  I've also read that the peas are representative of coins, but either way, eating this meal is meant to bring you luck and money.  It wasn't until last year that I actually made Hoppin' John for the first time.  Hoppin' John is a heritage dish with roots in the Low Country of South Carolina.  Like many dishes in this area and the rest of the South the roots run further to the origin of West Africa.

On a weekend visit to Charleston, SC we stopped by the farmer's market, where I found an heirloom variety of peas called Sea Island Red Peas and and an heirloom variety of rice called Carolina Gold from Anson Mills.  According to Anson Mills Carolina Gold rice is:

"The grandfather of long-grain rice in the Americas, Carolina Gold is a delicate non-aromatic rice with rich chameleon properties that allow it to produce fluffy, individual grains; creamy risotto; or sticky Asian-style rice, depending on how it is cooked.  Exclusively new crop and milled to emulate fresh, hand-pounded rice, Anson Mills Carolina Gold rice has a clean, sweet flavor and mouthfeel superior to modern long-grain rice." 

Southern Chef Sean Brock of Husk and McCrady's fame has been using Carolina Gold rice and other Anson Mills products for years now.  And rightfully so, you can taste the difference in using quality ingredients such as these in the final product.  Once we got home, I trolled the internet for Sea Island Red pea recipes and I came across the delicious one below from Anson Mills website.  It's a great recipe that can be made anytime of the year, but particularly on New Year's day.  Serve with collard greens and cornbread, and you've got yourself a wonderful meal.  

New Year's Day Hoppin' John (recipe slightly adapted from Anson Mills)

Serves 4-6 people

• 1 quart Chicken Stock 

• 1 cup Sea Island Red Peas or Black Eyed Peas, covered with water, soaked overnight, and then drained

• 2-3 slices of bacon or 1 ham hock

• 1/2 yellow onion

• 1/2 carrot, peeled

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 tsp Curry powder

• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

• Kosher salt to taste

1. Bring the stock to a simmer over medium-high heat in heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan. Stir in the soaked and drained peas, the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaf, bacon and curry powder. Return the liquid to a simmer, and then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan partially and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the peas are tender, 1 to 1¼ hours.
   
   
2. Remove and discard the vegetables and bay leaf. Season with the red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Remove ¼ cup or so of peas and broth and puree them in a blender or food processor or with a burr mixer. Return the puree to the pot with the peas. (Alternatively, you can mash the peas directly in the pan with a potato masher or fork.) If the gravy is too thick, thin it with a bit of water. Cook just until heated through. Taste for seasoning and serve hot over long-grain rice (Carolina Gold if you can find it) or  Simple Buttered Carolina Gold Rice Grits.

Ashley Christensen's "Luck and Money" dish of peas and greens at Poole's Diner Raleigh, NC.  Photo taken from Garden & Gun

I have my own resolutions and wishes for the New Year.  I want to explore the wonderland of the Pacific Northwest, I want to focus on my fitness, and I want to do the things that make me happy like cooking, writing, and spending time with friends and family.  Here's a toast for the New Year: I wish everyone happiness, health, and wealth in 2015.  May the New Year give you the courage to try new things in your life, face your challenges head on, and may your hopes and dreams come true.

Salud!