In the Hawthorne Household,
we have a traditional
New Year's Day meal.
And I must interject here
that I never had this on my mother's
Southern table for New Year's.
Or if I did, I don't remember it.
And if I did, I wouldn't have eaten it.
But, Mr. Hawthorne insists on
black eyed peas and greens for New Year's.
So, here you have it.
First, a black eyed pea salad.

My mise en place:
My cooked black eyed peas
Green pepper
Assorted red and orange sweet peppers
Green jalapeno
Canned corn
Onion
Green onion
Celery
Cilantro

I added the can of corn to the black eyed peas.

I chopped up the peppers, the onions,
along with some
red onion,
celery, and cilantro.

And added all to the corn and peas.

Now, for the dressing.
I have olive oil, homemade vinegar,
sugar, salt and pepper,
garlic and shallots,
and fresh oregano and thyme.

First, I squuzzed the juice of 1/2 lemon.

Maxine had given me
a small bottle of homemade vinegar,
which I added to the lemon juice.
In front, I have minced shallots, garlic,
thyme, and oregano.

I added the minced ingredients to the lemon/vinegar.

Just a teaspoon or two of sugar went in.
My lemon/vinegar/herb mixture
is ready, along with salt and pepper,
and olive oil drizzled in.

Oops.
Almost forgot
to add in the leftover
diced cucumber!
I know it was in my original thinkin',
and I forgot to add it.
And you know,
you could add diced tomatoes to this.
That would be very good.

My black eyed pea mixture,
with extra cilantro
and last minute parsley,
and a cup of dressing.

Decided the black eyed pea mixture needed more
cilantro and some parsley.

Added the dressing to the peas.
And my pea salad is done.

Here, Mr. Hawthorne is cutting
the rest of the ham off the bone
for his ham salad.

Here's all his chopped ham
and the ingredients:
Celery
Mayo
Mustard
Sweet relish
Hard cooked eggs.
(He didn't use the Sweet Mixed Pickles after all.)

Just take it all in
and duplicate
for a delicious ham salad.

Mr. Hawthorne's Ham Salad.

Here's my lunch.
Two Triscuits with ham salad
and my black eyed pea salad.

Close up.
This was delicious.

Ham salad on a Triscuit.

Close up of lunch.
Ham salad and black eyed pea salad.
Next, I went to another traditional food for New Year's Day.
Greens.

I went out to the garden and picked
kale and mustard greens.

Washed the leaves off very carefully.

Here's the rest of the ham bone
with all the meat mostly pulled off.

Ham bone goes into the greens.
ACTION SHOT!

Ham bone in with the greens.

Cook for a couple of hours
until the greens are reduced.
Thusly.

I added in a few sliced potatoes
and cooked for another hour.

Here's the finished product.
Kale, mustard greens, bit of ham,
potatoes, butter, and
cider vinegar on the greens.
Absolutely delicious.
Happy New Year!
Everything looks great - happy new year!
ReplyDeleteOk.... so I actually tried mustard greens for the first time this year. At first I considered the long-simmer process for them... even still have a couple ham hocks in the fridge... but went with a method to do a quick wilt in a skillet that had a bit of duck fat in it.
ReplyDeleteThey were bitter. Which is why I usually do not go for greens.
Does the long simmer take away any of the bitterness? I'd really like to find a way to make greens that I'd actually enjoy.
Coming from German roots, I grew up with the tradition that the first food you had to eat was saurkraut. I hate saurkraut, or at least the jarred stuff that was omnipresent in my parent's house.
ReplyDeleteMy Daughter-in-law's parents believe that you must roll a cabbage across the doorway for the new year.
Now, we are much more laid back and have no such food traditions.
Mrs VJW, I cook my greens for several hours, and they're not bitter at all, so maybe the long simmer has something to do with it. I fill the pot up with greens, add about 1/2 water, and simmer away.
ReplyDeleteThen I put butter and cider vinegar over top.
I did use some vinegar in my greens and they were cooked in duck fat... so obviously there was not a lack of tasty fat!
ReplyDeleteI shoulda done the long, slow simmer. I'll make the mental note for next time the greens look good at the market.