Hoppin' John...

Hoppin' John was a favorite of Grandpa H...he would make a big pot of it and eat it everyday until it was gone!  He also loved vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup which would make a nice dessert on Hoppin' John night.  This recipe is great with hot sauce or spicy tahini (recipe below).

Hoppin' John

a recipe for 2015

"tonight's gonna be a good good night..."

1 pound black eyed peas, dried

1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
vegetable oil of choice

1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 Tablespoon Liquid Smoke
3 bay leaves

1 green pepper, diced
1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
pinch of cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste


Sort and rinse the black eyed peas, cover with water and soak overnight.

In a pot, saute the onion and celery in a little oil until softened.*

While the onion and celery soften, rinse the now soaked black eyed peas.

To the pot add thyme, bay leaves, rinsed peas, 6 cups of fresh water and liquid smoke.

Simmer until peas are tender, approximately 45 minutes.

When peas are tender add green pepper, rice, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Cover and simmer until rice is tender, 15-20 minutes.  Turn off the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Serve with Frank's RedHot or make Spicy Tahini...

*Note:  I decided to saute the onion and celery.  Recipes I looked at did not do this.  So I imagine you could skip this step.

Spicy Tahini

a recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen

link to recipe at theppk

Blend together:
1/2 cup tahini
1/3 cup hot sauce (Frank's!)
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup water (add more if too thick)

This makes more than we use for one pot of Hoppin' John but this sauce is delicious on pretty much anything!

Christmas Scones...

If you know us you've heard the story but here it goes again...
One spring I received Baking with Julia as a gift.  When Christmas morning rolled around we baked scones using the recipe in the book.  The next Christmas we bought the ingredients but didn't get around to baking.  Around 10 pm Christmas night, toddler Jeremiah asked "When are we having scones?"  We made them then and there and our tradition was born.  Scones and tea on Christmas morning for more than a decade!  These scones are why we will never be vegan.

Buttermilk Scones

a recipe from Baking With Julia

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter cold and cut into small pieces

1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest

1/2 stick unsalted butter melted
1/4 cup sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a medium bowl, stir together the first five ingredients with a fork.
Add the cold butter and using fingertips work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
Pour in buttermilk, toss in the zest and mix with the fork only until the ingredients are just moistened. The dough will have a rough look. If dry, add another tablespoon of buttermilk.
Gather the dough into a ball and knead very briefly on a lightly floured surface, about a dozen turns.
Cut the dough in half. Press each half into a seven inch circle about half an inch thick. Brush each circle with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Cut each circle into six pieces.
Place on an un-greased baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.

Notes:  I usually start with cutting up the butter and putting the small pieces in the freezer until I need it.  Also, I usually don't end up using the whole amount of sugar for dusting.

Merry Christmas!

Rum Balls...

So is it weird that eating rum balls at the family Christmas party is a childhood memory?  Probably but oh well!  Found this recipe online and it's a keeper!

Rum Balls

a recipe from Martha Stewart

link to Martha's Rum Ball Recipe

Notes:
I used turbinado sugar for coating.
I think the taste and texture was better after 24 hours.
When buying ingredients, buy diet pepsi and limes or else you will be sad.

Zesty Cranberry Sauce...

This is required for Thanksgiving to even happen. See: The dish that saved Thanksgiving...  It is delicious for other holidays as well!  Yum! 

Zesty Cranberry Sauce

a recipe from the Horjus Kitchen

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2 cup undiluted orange juice concentrate

2 ripe pears, finely chopped

1 medium apple, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Put everything in a saucepan and simmer, uncovered until the cranberry skins pop and the mixture is slightly thickened.

Notes:
If you don't like it tart you can add sugar at the end (we like it without).  This is great hot, cold or room temp.  We would eat this in a box or with a fox.

Haroset...

Haroset is served at Passover as a symbol of the mortar the Jews used when they were enslaved in Egypt.  Mother Nature's Garden is a vegan cookbook I found at the library.

Haroset

a recipe from Mother Nature's Garden by F. Bienenfeld

3 cups grated apples

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup grape juice

Mix together all ingredients and chill.  Tastes great with matzah. 

Notes:
I use whatever firm apples happen to look good and sometimes use a mix of a sweet red apple and a tart granny smith. 

Spaghetti Carbonara...

This is yummy and worth the bother of frying bacon.  I'm hoping to think of something veg and salty to replace the bacon.  In the meantime, we pass the bacon on the side.  We ate this for Christmas dinner and it was great...quick, filling and yummy!

Spaghetti Carbonara

a recipe from Everyday Food

link to Martha's Spaghetti Carbonara recipe

Note:

It's also great with peas added.  Defrost frozen peas by running under hot tap water and add peas during the last minute of the pasta cook time.

Apricot Slush...

This was the magical drink that the grown-ups drank at big family parties.  It's an alcoholic slushy with maraschino cherries...what's not for a kid to love and therefore beg for a sip?  When I remembered this recipe in 2003 I always thought it was Aunt Dot's recipe.  When I got the recipe it ends up she'd gotten it from Mom!  This seems like such a '70s thing and I've always assumed it was from an ad for 7 Up or the Apricot Brandy Association or something like that...

Apricot Slush

a recipe from Aunt Dorothy via Mom

4 tea bags
2 cups sugar
frozen orange juice concentrate, 12 ounces
frozen lemonade concentrate, 12 ounces
2 1/2 cups apricot brandy (approximately half a 750ml bottle)

1)  Make strong black tea (4 tea bags in two cups of boiling water) and set aside to cool.
2)  Make a simple syrup by boiling together 7 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar
3)  Mix together the tea and the syrup.
4)  Mix together frozen orange juice concentrate and frozen lemonade concentrate.
5)  Mix together the tea/syrup and the juice concentrate mixture.
6)  Mix in apricot brandy
7)  Freeze at least 24 hours.

To serve, mix 3-4 tablespoons with 7 Up and garnish with a cherry.