Name: Hopping John

Eaten on New Year's Day, this dish is supposed to bring good luck.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups black-eyed peas
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper
• 1 minced clove garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 oz. coarsely chopped salt pork

Instructions:

• Bring water and black-eyed peas to boil in a large covered saucepan
• After boiling 2 minutes, remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour.
• Add all the other ingredients except the pork.
• Return to a boil, cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in pork.
• Simmer uncovered 1 more hour, stirring frequently.
• Remove the pork and bay leaf.
• Slightly mash the pea mixture.
• Serve with boiled rice

Comments: 1/1/2012 - Started at 1:30 pm. Used 2.5 pound bag of black-eyed peas so doubled the recipe. Eight cups of water led to a final result that was a little too liquid. Used 2 lb of ham instead of the salt pork. Tasted good.
12/31/2017 - One bag of black-eyed peas contains a pound, about 2 1/4 cups. I mostly doubled the other amounts: 7 1/3 cups of water, 2 cups chopped onion, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 1 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper, 3 cloves garlic, 3 bay leaves, and 2.08 pounds of ham. The ham was pre-sliced. The result was too spicy for Gail and too watery.
1/1/2019 - The 1-lb bag contained about 2 1/2 cups of black-eyed peas. I used 7 1/4 cups of water, but later removecd 1/2 cup from the saucepan. I also used 2 1/2 cups of onions, 1 3/4 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 (or more) bay leafs, 12-oz salt pork, and 12-oz of ham steak. I started at 2 PM and followed the recipe as well as I could.
1/1/2020 - I used 1 pound of black-eyed peas, 6 1/2 cups of water, 3 cups of chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 3 bay leaves, 16-oz of ham steak cut into cubes, as well as the specified spices. I started at 2:30 PM, and simmered about 1 1/2 hour at the end.
12/31/2023 - I used 2 cups of black-eyed peas, 6 cups water, 2 1/2 cups of chopped onions, 1 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper, 2 large cloves of garlic, 2 bay leaves, and 8 oz. salt pork. I started around 2:15 PM. Although I didn't know how to remove the pork from the dish, it was good.

Source: Joy of Cooking, 1978 edition. Click here to see an alternate recipe from GOYA.

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