Even better is when you find a recipe that becomes a family favourite, an easy (and cheap!) weekday meal or, as with us, an even better breakfast with eggs the morning after. Hoppin' John was one such recipe, a spicy stew made of black-eye peas and bacon, traditional to the Southern states of the USA, served with rice. Read on, faithful friends....
Ingredients for 6:
250 g/ 1 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas
(I don't soak mine but there's a big debate going on about this if you look at the red beans 'n' rice recipe)
3 slices smoked bacon, chopped
6 rings of jalapeno chilli, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1chicken stock cube
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper, ground
salt, to taste, added at end (or the beans won't cook!)
4 cups/ 1 litre water
Fresh, chopped coriander (cilantro) to serve (optional)
Directions
Dump and go. Cook on Low for 6-9 hours or on High for 4-6 hours till beans are tender. Serve with rice to soak up the juices (we make ours sloppy for this reason) or you might enjoy the 5-minute microwave cornbread from the black bean soup recipe.
We usually top it with a fried egg and stir in some chopped coriander. Yummy!
Verdict:
This is real comfort food in our house and a 5-minute no-brainer to put on in the morning. We have a rice cooker so it's a real hands-free meal or the cornbread is a great option. Did you know that the corn/beans combo gives a complete set of plant-based amino acids? Traditional food choices have a lot of sense behind them. It's spicy but not hugely so and the peas have a nice meatiness to them. I never liked black-eyed peas till I tried this recipe but it's the bacon that makes the difference.
So, I'm interested, what recipes have you cooked purely based on the name?
This looks REALLY yummy (and easy/inexpensive), gonna try. I'll always try things for the name, but can't think of any off top of head...
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