Hoppin' John for New Year's Eve

I'm thinking I'll make Hoppin' John again on New Years' Day for Mr. B. It's a traditional Southern dish made from black eyed peas, ham, bacon and rice. It's a delicious dish and supposedly is a bringer of luck to "thems that eats it". The recipe I used follows.

Get your "mise en place" ready. 

Brown the bacon and remove to paper towels. Reserve for later. 

Brown the ham and remove to a plate. Reserve for later. 

Saute the onions, celery and peppers until beginning to brown. Add garlic and thyme and cook just until fragrant.

Add the broth, peas, rice, bay leaves and ham to the vegetables. Bring to a simmer and cook until the rice is done.

Remove the ham and cut into bite sized cubes. Fluff the rice. 

Add bacon, ham and scallions to the mixture and serve immediately. 

Serve with collard greens and cornbread for a nice New Year's luncheon.

Hoppin' John (Adapted from a recipe by America's Test Kitchen)

6 pieces of bacon chopped

1 (1- to 1 1/2-pound) boneless ham , cut into 3/4-inch-thick planks

1  onion, chopped fine   

2  celery ribs , chopped fine 

1/4 cup each chopped fine, red and green bell pepper  

4  garlic cloves , minced  

1/2  teaspoon dried thyme   

4  cups low-sodium chicken broth 

2  (16-ounce) bags frozen black-eyed peas   

2  bay leaves   

1 1/2  cups long-grain rice   

3  scallions , sliced thin  

1. BROWN PORK Cook bacon in Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot and brown ham, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to plate with bacon.

2. COOK VEGETABLES Add onion, peppers and celery to pot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth, peas, bay leaves, and browned ham and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until beans are just tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer ham to cutting board and cut into ½-inch pieces.

3. SIMMER RICE Place rice in fine-mesh strainer set over large bowl. Rinse under running water until water runs clear, about 1 minute. Drain rice well and stir into pot. Place square of aluminum foil directly on surface of simmering liquid. Simmer covered until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes, stirring and repositioning foil twice during cooking. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with fork. Stir in scallions, bacon, and ham. Serve. 

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Kitchen Memory: Wimpys from Caserta Pizza

In my younger days I used to live on Federal Hill in Providence and often (more than I frankly should have) went to Caserta Pizza for a spinach pie they called a "Wimpy Skippy" for some reason. They are a piece of pizza dough slathered with a helping of very overcooked spinach seasoned with olive oil, garlic and black olives with a liberal amount of pepperoncino (crushed red pepper). I have tried to make them myself and I could never get the technique right. Well, I was just dying for one of those damned things so I thought I'd look on the good old Internet and see if anyone had posted a recipe for them and sure enough I found one. So I whipped up a batch of those tonight and have just wolfed one right down. Delizioso! The method is below as well as the recipe. Make these.. You'll love them!

Mix the filling ingredients and schmear it on 1/2 of the dough

Cover with the other half of the dough, brush with olive oil and bake

After first bake, open the dough and allow to cool completely

Top with mozzarella and pepperoni, leave flat and bake again

After they come out of the oven fold over the dough again, leaving the spinach filling on the bottom

(I baked mine again for 5 minutes to crisp them up)

The finished product and tastes as good as I remembered too! 

Tourtiere for Christmas Eve

It's getting to be the holidays and nothing says Christmas Eve like a nice Tourtière or Pork Pie. I got a terrific recipe from the nice folks at Cook's Country and decided to give it a test drive. It came out great. I served it with warmed ketchup. Makes a great big pie though so make sure you have a deep dish pie plate to put it in. The standard 9-inch Pyrex will not hold all of the filling. I also recommend a good sturdy pie dough like the one in the recipe or try Ina Garten's pie dough she make for her Lobster Pie. That's a great pastry for a tasty sturdy crust. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Tourtière

Makes 1 large pie

FILLING

Salt and pepper

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons water

2 pounds ground pork

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 onions, chopped fine

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves

3 cups chicken broth

12 ounces russet potatoes, peeled and shredded

CRUST

1/2 cup sour cream, chilled

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled

EGG WASH

1 large egg yolk lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

1. FOR THE FILLING: Dissolve 1¼ teaspoons salt and baking soda in water in medium bowl. Add pork and knead with your hands until thoroughly combined. Set aside until needed, at least 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add broth and potatoes, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring often, until potatoes are tender and rubber spatula leaves trail when dragged across bottom of pot, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Add pork to pot, breaking up pieces with spoon, and cook until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Transfer filling to 13 by 9-inch baking dish and refrigerate, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until completely cool, about 1 hour. (Cooled filling can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours before assembling pie.)

4. FOR THE CRUST: Combine sour cream and egg in bowl. Process flour and salt in food processor until combined, about 3 seconds. Add butter and pulse until only pea-size pieces remain, about 10 pulses. Add half of sour cream mixture and pulse until combined, about 5 pulses. Add remaining sour cream mixture and pulse until dough begins to form, about 10 pulses.

5. Transfer mixture to lightly floured counter and knead briefly until dough comes together. Divide dough in half and form each half into 6-inch disk. Wrap disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Let chilled dough sit on counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes, before rolling.

6. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Roll 1 disk of dough into 12‑inch circle on lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto 9‑inch pie plate, letting excess dough hang over edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand. Wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic and refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of pie plate.

7. Pour filling into dough-lined pie plate. Roll other disk of dough into 12‑inch circle on lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto filling. Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of pie plate. Pinch edges of top and bottom crusts firmly together. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of pie plate using your fingers. (If dough gets too soft to work with, refrigerate pie for 10 minutes, then continue.)

8. Cut four 1-inch slits in top of dough. Brush surface with egg wash. Bake until edges are light brown, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue to bake until crust is deep golden brown and liquid bubbles up through vents, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Let pie cool on wire rack for 2 hours before serving.

TO MAKE AHEAD: Wrapped dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter before rolling. Assembled pie (without egg wash) can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours before brushing with egg wash and baking.

PLAN AHEAD: Both the pie dough and the filling need to chill for an hour or more before the pie can be assembled and baked. If time is short, use store-bought dough. Shred the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater just before cooking. Don’t soak the shreds in water or their starch will wash away and the filling won’t thicken properly. To cool the filling quickly, chill it in a large baking dish. Eat the pie when it’s just slightly warm.