Sassy Southern Cooking with a French Twist

ham hocks

Lucky Start for New Year’s Day

Ring in 2020 with a Delicious Hoppin’ John-Inspired Soup

This past year has been a busy one for me and my little family, most notably with a move to Williamsburg, VA after twenty years of living in beautiful Charleston, SC.  It has been a big and rewarding change that still keeps us in the South, but with a little more space and slight variations in weather and produce seasonality.  I’m resharing one of my favorite recipes from Mashed – Beyond the Potato (Gibbs Smith, Sept. 2016), which makes nutritious and delicious use of some of the season’s best flavors and ingredients.  A former and especially lovely neighbor of mine in Charleston, who was a principal taste tester for this book, made it last New Year’s Day and it was so popular, she and her family have declared it a permanent tradition for this special day.

Lucky Prosperity Soup 

Yields 8 to 10 servings

New Year’s Day in the South ushers in a call to wealth and prosperity, which are symbolized by black-eyed peas (representing coins) and collard greens (representing greenbacks). Often, they’re cooked separately, usually with some ham hock for flavor, and put together on the same plate with rice. This delicious soup takes the best of the bunch and puts them all in one pot, with the exclusion of rice. If you can’t find collard greens, substitute kale or another sturdy green. This soup is finished with a traditional sweet and onion splash from a southern garnish known as chow-chow. If you cannot find it, substitute a traditional relish, but modify the results as suggested in the recipe.

Delicious Lucky Prosperity Soup from Mashed – Beyond the Potato (Gibbs Smith, 2016) by Holly Herrick. Photo by Alexandra DeFurio.

Recipe

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed and diced

3 teaspoons kosher or sea salt, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

4 cups (1 1/4 pounds/ 565g) fresh black-eyed peas, rinsed

3/4 pound (340g) smoked ham hock

8 cups (1.9l) water

1 large bunch collard greens, rinsed, tough stems removed and discarded, and cut into 1/4-inch (6-mm) strips

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce or Tabasco

1/3 cup (80g) chow-chow or 2 tablespoons traditional relish

Directions/Method

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir to coat. Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes. De-glaze with the vinegar and reduce quickly to a glaze.

Add the peas, ham, water, collard greens, and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high and reduce to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 1 hour, until thickened and the greens have cooked down and the peas are soft, but holding their shape. Remove the ham hock from the pot and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, using an immersion blender, briefly mash the soup in the cooking pot to help incorporate the beans and the greens. When cool enough to handle, cut off and remove outer fat and skin layers from the hock. Cut off any visible meat, finely chop, and return to the pot; discard the rest. Just before serving, stir in the hot sauce and chow-chow. Adjust salt and pepper as needed. Serve steaming hot and sit back and count your lucky stars.

This is an absolutely award-winning soup that beats Hoppin’ John any day in my book.

With best wishes for all things beautiful, happy, and healthy in 2020.

Bon appetit,

Holly and Rocky

Author, Chef, Cookbook writer Holly Herrick

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