Cassie’s Ruminations

Hoppin’ John

Hoppin’ John is black eyed peas cooked with pork, served over rice and often accompanied by some sort of greens. It’s traditional, especially in the southern United States to serve on New Year’s day. Filling, delicious, and easy to make, we started making this a couple years ago. I often make it with leftover plain pulled pork shoulder, but we did ham hocks this time around. I served it with some quick sauteed spinach – a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and a bag of fresh spinach cooked until just wilted. The spinach adds a nice punch of green. I make this in an Instant Pot, but the recipe can be adapted to a slow cooker or stovetop as desired.

Hoppin’ John

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dried black eyed peas
• 5 cups water
• 1 tbsp chicken Better Than Bouillon
• 1 tbsp ham Better Than Bouillon
• 0.5 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 0.25 tsp onion powder
• 4 large cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 pound plain pulled pork shoulder, or about 2 pounds ham hocks

Instructions:

1. Rinse the black eyed peas and add them to the Instant Pot liner.
2. Add the water, Better Than Bouillon, liquid smoke, pepper, paprika, thyme, onion powder, and garlic and stir until combined.
3. Add the pork or ham hocks on top of the bean and broth mixture.
4. Seal the Instant Pot and set the time to 17 minutes at high pressure.
5. When the cooking time is done, allow the Instant Pot to release pressure naturally, usually about 15 minutes.
6. If using ham hocks, remove the ham hocks and shred the meat off the bones, returning it to the pot and discarding the bones. Stir the meat into the beans.
7. Serve warm, over steamed rice if desired.