What you’re about to read comes down to one thing – if you were born in the South, you are one “lucky” person, you need to count your blessings and the day to do all that is the very first day of the year. This is what I report on here, paying homage to your heritage every year by keeping one custom, the consumption of black-eyed peas each New Year’s Day. Take it from me, even a day before or the after will not have the same effect. That’s why I am always sure to eat black-eyed peas on the first day of January. This developed over time with me as I remembered skipping a year once. I shrugged it off as a silly superstition, just to see if anything would be noticeably different? That was one of this Southern man’s worst years ever! I remember by June [of that year] I was so wishing I would have just made that extra trip to store to get those dad-gum Black-eyed peas! I mean what kind of effort needs to be undertaken here – “just do it next time” I thought to myself and I’ve never skipped a year since. Using this as one mantra I have been able to successfully retire and my time is largely my own these days so there’s that to observe. 🙂

Let’s face it, Blackeye peas can be rather mundane and boring. So I thought this year I would study up on how other people are preparing this vital New Year’s dish. I found some new and interesting things looking at different recipes. I decided to borrow a few of their ideas and leave out a couple other [of their ideas]. The end result was I think amazing so I wanted to share it for you to try –

What you will need:
16 oz. package of Camellia Brand Dried Blackeye Peas [you can use canned, cooking time will be much shorter and flavors not as complex]
One large Green Onion, [looks basically like an oversized scallion]
1/2 cup Celery
One Bell Pepper [or substitute jalapeno if you want extra heat, no need for both]
3 or 4 Collard Green leaves, stems removed [this idea of adding collard greens comes from an old Greek Recipe, these two compliment each other well]
Chopped or Minced Garlic, equivalent to a couple cloves
2 cans Chicken Broth [if planning to use only broth and no water, you’ll need 4 cans]
One Ham Hock, optional [hopefully you found one smoked!] Note: these are a hassle to deal with when raw, you don’t want to go there. Remove the fat layer around the hock to unveil the pork meat. Should yield around 3-4 ounces of pork. Cut the meat out and discard the rest. Chop the pork into larger bite sized pieces, do not dice.
3 slices Thick Cut Bacon, [or more if not using a Ham Hock?]
Sage and Thyme
Note: do not add salt, keep it on your dinner table – these ingredients contain plenty of salt

Soaking dried blackeye peas is not necessary but I did anyway. If you agree, cover them with 2 inches of water and set aside for a couple hours, it will soften them up and should shorten the cooking time. Meanwhile, chop the veggies into bite sized pieces, no need to dice them. Start by adding the cut bacon pieces in the pot, heat until fat is rendering well to saute. Now add in the onion, celery, and whichever pepper you chose to use and toss those guys around with the pieces of bacon. Once the onion begins to look a little transparent add in the chopped collard greens and garlic. Cook this concoction for a few more minutes making sure everything is coated in bacon grease. Now it’s time to add in the chicken broth, I used two cans then filled one and a half empty cans with water and poured that in as well. This should be adequate for liquid as the peas will soak up some of it. Note you can always add a little more liquid later if necessary.

Drain and discard all the water from the now pre-soaked beans and add the peas into the mix, stir slowly. Cover and turn up the heat. Once this concoction reaches a boil turn the heat down and maintain a good simmer. Now it’s time to add in the chopped pork from the ham hock [if using]. Along with that, add one heaping teaspoon of both Thyme and Sage. Cover and return to simmer, stirring occasionally. Plan on giving this new “culinary experiment” a taste test in about an hour and a half. If all goes well your blackeye peas should be close to tender and flavorful… wishing you the Best of Luck in the New Year!