The Hoppin' John
We wish you all good health, wealth, and good fortune for the New Year. If you're a superstitious Southerner, this shouldn't surprise you - The Hoppin' John to ring in a new year!
Ingredients
- 1/2 Lb Bacon Thick-cut, chopped
- 2 Sausage Links Thin, Long Slice
- 1 Sweet Onion Chopped
- 2 Stalks Celery Chopped
- 1 Green Bell Pepper Chopped
- 4 Jalapenos Seeded/Chopped
- 5 Cloves Garlic Minced
- 1 Can Black-eyed peas Glory seasoned
- 32 oz Chicken Stock
- 1 Tbsp Thyme
- 1 Tbsp Cajun Seasoning
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 2 Cups Jasmati rice What I had on hand
Instructions
Optional: Smoked Bacon
- I cooked the bacon a day before, 2 hour smoked and put her in the fridge for the next day. Then just did a re-heat when I added the sausage. If you're going all at once, cook the bacon for about 3-5 minutes and then add your sausage and continue.
Rice
- Cook the rice before getting the rest of this rolling. I did 2 cups of dry Jasmati and set aside while I whipped up the rest of this.
Hoppin John
- Use a large sauté pan over medium heat or the RecTeq Matador like I did. I put a drizzle of oil in the Matador and browned the sausage before adding the rest. Since I already pre-smoked the bacon, I added the chopped pig when I was heating up the sausage and when warmed up, put it along the side while the sausage cooked.
- Push the bacon and sausage to the sides of the Matador. I scooped out the hot oil and did a very slight drizzle when I added in the onions, celery, bell pepper, jalapenos, and garlic. Sauté to soften the vegetables, maybe another 3-5 minutes or so.
- Pour in the black eyed peas, chicken stock, thyme, Cajun seasoning, and bay leaf. My matador runs hot, so throughout the reduction, I let it go.. killed the flame and restarted it.. I did it twice throughout about 15-20 minutes.
- Reduce until there's a little bit of sauce left, but not soupy nor dry.
- Serve warm over rice and hit it with a lil hot sauce if you're like me. (The Spicy Gnome's "Fine Hot Sauce" worked great!)