A Traditional New Years Day Feast

I've officially lived in the "South" for almost 10 years now and I'm a little bit embarrassed to say that this was the very first time I made collard greens and hoppin' john on New Years Day for "money and good luck" in 2010. After a fun New Years Eve night on the town, we surrendered to a day of vegging, football, some low country cookin, and a little "hair of the dog". I turned to my mom for recipes and to Publix for the best fried chicken in town. First the collards... I started with a huge bunch of collards from Whole Foods. They were absolutely beautiful, big luscious green leaves. I rinsed them well, tore the leaves away from the inner rib and then into bite sized pieces. Meanwhile I started some olive oil in a huge pot over medium-high heat and rendered the fat from about 6 slices of bacon. As soon as the bacon was crispy, I removed it. Meanwhile I threw one large sweet onion and 4 cloves of garlic into the food processor, chopped to a relatively fine dice, and added to the pot. I cooked the onion and garlic down until translucent but not yet browning before adding a pinch of red pepper flakes, a hefty seasoning of kosher salt, black pepper and then my collards. I gave everything a good toss to coat the leaves evenly with the onion mixture and then added about 2/3 of a box of chicken stock to the pot. I gave it another good stir, popped the lid on and let it go for about 20 minutes. I tossed it occasionally but let it simmer over medium heat until the leaves were tender. All in all it probably took 40 minutes or so. I finished off at the very end with some additional salt and pepper to taste and then a heft splash (probably 1/3 cup or so) of rice wine vinegar. This is my mom's secret and I think it really gives it a great kick.

Hoppin' John... Next/as the collards were simmering, I started on my hoppin' john. For those of you unfamiliar, hoppin' john is essentially black eyed peas and rice. (Its the black eyed peas that are supposed to bring you luck in the new year...they don't have to be in hoppin' john form) Seeing as I was feeling a bit on the lazy side- this rendition is not truly authentic. I used a recipe from the Boathouse restaurant here in Charleston as a base- they have a fantastic cookbook. In a dutch oven, I rendered the fat from another 6 slices of bacon. I then sauteed one diced carrot, one diced celery stalk, one finely diced jalapeno, and half of a large sweet onion, diced. Once the vegetables were tender (10 minutes or so) I added two cans of black eyed peas (rinsed and drained) and seasoned well with salt and pepper. This is where I cheated... I'm fairly confident that most self-respecting southern cooks wouldn't be caught dead using canned beans, but oh well... The Boathouse actually uses fresh peas which I'm not sure many people could actually find in the store anyway and they use the carrot, celery and onion to flavor the beans as they cook slowly in water. I thought adding the veggies to the dish would add some extra color and crunch as well as flavor in this case. I removed the bean/vegetable mixture from the dutch oven and set aside. I then cooked two cups of basmati rice per the package directions in the same pot, using half chicken stock in place of half the water. Once the rice was finished, I tossed the beans and vegetables back in. Finally, I finished it with the juice from 1.5 lemons, one bunch of chopped green onions- green and white parts- and a handful of chopped fresh parsley. This step really added some freshness and brightness to the flavors. I also crumbled some of the crispy bacon back in as well.

I crisped the Public fried chicken pieces in the oven at 300 degrees and served with our collards and hoppin' john, a little Texas Pete on the side. Happy 2010!!!!