Food is forefront in the celebration of any holiday
and, traditionally, certain foods are prepared
for New Year's Day to bring health, prosperity, and luck.
I'm all for starting the New Year on the best possible footing,
so I'm picking me some collard greens out of the garden, for wealth,
and cooking some black eyed peas, for luck.
Corn tortilla chips will serve in place of corn bread for health.
I've been eating a ton of greens lately,
so I wanted something different
from the traditional cooked down greens.
I'm combining Southern Comfort with Tex Mex
and dishing up an herbal, earthy, smoky, and spicy Good Luck Dip
to serve on New Year's Day.
I adapted this recipe from
Homesick Texan's
New Year's Day
Queso Compuesto,
New Year’s Good Luck Dip
1 cup cooked black eyed peas
1 cup collard greens, cooked and chopped
8 oz. sausage along with about 2 oz. chorizo, cooked
2-3 TB red wine
3 jalapeños, roasted and minced
½ onion, chopped
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1/4 cup heavy cream
lime juice
cilantro
Rinse beans, add to salted water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and let simmer, skimming any scum that forms on the top. After about 20 minutes, rinse beans, refresh water, and cook until tender. Check in 10 to 20 minutes. Rinse beans.
Rinse collards and put in a pot with about ½ inch of water and a piece or two of salt pork. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and barely simmer until tender. Check in an hour. Mince.
Fry the sausage in an oven-proof skillet, breaking into small bits. Add in chopped onion and cook until sausage is done. Drain off excess grease. Turn heat to high and add red wine to deglaze the pan. Remove from heat. Deglazing means adding a liquid to the pan after you’ve cooked a meat so as to release all the goody bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. It adds extra flavor to whatever you’re cooking.
Slice jalapeños in half and remove ribs and seeds. The heat is in the ribs and seeds, so if you like it hot, keep them in. Stick skewers through the peppers and roast over a flame to char, or you can put them under a broiler, skin side up. Mince.
Heat oven to 375°. Stir the black eyed peas, collards, and jalapeños into the sausage. Top evenly with the cubed cream cheese and grated Monterey Jack. Pour the heavy cream over top and bake, uncovered, 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling.
Stir in a little lime juice and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips.
Mr. Hawthorne soaked the black eyed peas overnight,
but I've never bothered with that.
I went out in the garden and picked collards,
along with a mess of other greens.
Yes, all those greens will fit in that little pot.
Greens cook down like spinach.
Mr. Hawthorne tucked a few pieces
of salt pork in between the greens,
covered, and cooked them down.
An hour to an hour and a half.
Taste test.
You want them nice and tender.
Mince your greens.
I sliced my jalapeños, ribbed and seeded them.
Skewer and char over an open flame
or under the broiler.
Mince.
Generally, I go with whatever I have in the freezer or fridge.
I found 8 ounces of Jamestown Hot Sausage
and a small package of chorizo.
While I was cooking the sausage ...
... I chopped my onion and ...
... added it to the sausage.
Be sure to break up the chunks of sausage.
These are the goody bits of which I speak.
Turn heat up and add in the wine to deglaze,
scraping up the goody bits.
Add in collards.
Add in black eyed peas.
Roasted jalapeños in.
Cube the cream cheese.
Dot evenly with cubed cream cheese.
Sprinkle on grated Monterey Jack.
Pour heavy cream over top.
Bake at 375° for about 20 minutes.
You want the cheese to be nice and bubbly.
I stirred in a bit of lime juice for bit of a tang.
Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with chips.
I happen to like collards.
I like black eyed peas.
I know a lot of people who intensely dislike greens.
I'm betting that the Greens-Haters,
and you know who you are, EAM,
not to mention any names,
would enjoy this dip,
especially if they didn't know greens were involved.
It's a nice hearty appetizer dip.
Once people start digging into it,
it is not the most attractive of dishes,
but it can be easily prettified.
Just spoon it into another ramekin,
add more cheese on top,
and give it a run under the broiler.
Perhaps annoy the collards and black eyed peas
with some grated lime zest,
sour cream or creme fraiche,
chopped red onion,
and more cilantro.
Parsley if you prefer.
The Hawthornes wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2012.
You Mayans out there,
do as you please.