Good luck for the New Year

As a child, growing up in the North, I don't remember any traditional New Year's foods, though I do remember my parents ate oyster stew on New Year's Eve and I hated it. Doesn't sound good to me today, though I love oysters. But now that I'm sort of a southerner, I've run into the ham and black-eyed peas tradition./
A variety of reasons are suggested for why we eat ham for good luck, ranging from it fits with the menu of cornbread and black-eyed peas to the Oriental belief that pigs are smart and therefore signify succeess in business. The most common origin of this tradition seems to be that pigs are rotund (success) and they root with their noses, so they are always moving forward. Eat pig in some variety for the New Year and  you'll move forward. Black-eyed peas signify coins, so if you want wealth in the coming year, you have to eat a whole lot of peas. Greens indicate the green of money and are also supposed to bring wealth.
When I first discovered this tradition, I hadn't yet learned to like black-eyed peas, so I made Hoppin' John, that stew of diced ham, onions, celery, black-eyed peas, and rice. We called it Hoppin Uncle John in honor of a favorite uncle. But these days I just serve peas, and since I love a good ham, I fix that. So my menu for Tuesday night is ham, black-eyed peas, cheese grits (instead of cornbread), and a spinach casserole. My daughter wants chilis in the grits but I said no because I want her son to eat them. An appetizer of cream cheese with two toppings--pesto on one small block and jalopeno jelly on the other. And for my son-in-law, who will be mightily disappointed that I'm serving spinach, I'll offer an appetizer of sliced radishes on cream cheese covered pumpernickel. He loves radishes--and surely somewhere there must be something about them bringing luck.
I'm on a new campaign to make my local grandson a less picky eater. I will tell him if he doesnt like something, please do not announce it at the table. He really doesn't like meat, and I figure he should respect that, but I figure he'll eat grits nd peas. His distaste for meat distresses his father who is strictly a meat and potatoes person. I've forbidden my daughter to hop up and get him chicken nuggets--do you know how bad those things are for him? Plus that's rude, and that sturdy child is not going to waste away. I will ask both my daughter and son-in-law to take a small serving of spinach, taste it at least once, and if they don't like it, do not mention it. I'm tired of picky eating being a conversation topic at the dinner table. My son-in-law is vegetable-challenged, and seems to think it's sort of a cute trademark. No more.
So where's my recipe for this column? Totally unrelated, here's a dip that confirmed sauerkraut haters, including said son-in-law, love:

Reuben dip

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Thousand Island dressing
1/3 lb. sliced deli corned beef, chopped
3/4 cup sauerkraut, well drained
8 oz. Swiss cheese, copped

Mix cream cheese and dressing, then stir in other ingredients. Spead in a 9-inch pie pan and bake until heated through. Stir gently.
Serve with rye crackers or cocktail rye bread.

Happy 2013 everyone!

Food for good luck in 2012

On New Year's Day I'll be serving Hoppin' John to family and friends. In case you don't know, Hoppin John is a stew-like dish of black-eyed peas and ham and Cajun spices served over rice. (My kids called it Hoppin Uncle John after a favorite uncle.) It combines ham and black-eyed peas, those two foods said to bring good luck and wealth in the coming year. Coming from the North, I'd never heard of this tradition until I'd been in Texas several years. That's because it originated, in this country, in the American South. But now I feel uneasy if I don't have my ham and black-eyed peas. Today I read a blog about New Year celebrtions in Italy--it involves red underwear, but let's not go there. Italians eat sausage and lentils--the lentils are supposed to bring wealth because they're shaped like coins.
That got me to thinking about cross-cultural foods. My kids were discussing weinerschnitzel the other day, and I pointed out that almost every culture has a form of breaded meat. Weinerschnitzel is of course Austrain and made of veal, pounded flat, dipped in bread and egg.. But in Central and South America, they serve various versions of milanesa--the name indicates an Italian origin or at least European. Throughout much of Europe the dish is known as schnitzel and may be of chicken, veal or beef. In Denmark it is served topped with a "boy" (dreng in Danish)--lemon slices, horseradish, capers, and anchovy slices. In Oriental countries particularly Japan it is breaded with panko crumbs.
But wait, I've strayed from my topic, which is Hoppin John. Here's the recipe I'll be using Sunday:

1 lb. dried black-eyed peas
2 small ham hocks or a meaty ham bone
2 onions, divided use
3 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1 cup white rice
1 can Rotel tomatoes
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 tsp. Creole or Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
3/4 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. salt
4 green onions sliced

Put the peas, ham in a Dutch oven with 6 cups water (I might add chicken bouillon cubes). Quarter one of the onions and add with bay leaf and garlic. Bring to boil then simmer for two to three hours--don't let the peas become mushy. Remove the ham hocks, cut off the meat, dice and set aside. Drain the peas and set aside. Discard the bay leaf, onion, and garlic.
Add 2-1/2 cups water to pot and bring to boil. Add rice and simmer until almost tender, 10-12 minutes.

Dice the second onion and add to rice along with other ingredients except green onions. Cook until rice is tender--ten minutes. Spoon into bowls and top with sliced green onions for garnish. Tradition calls for accompanying this with turnip greens and cornbread. I'll be serving the cornbread but not the greens--I'm not yet after forty-some years that much of a southerner.

Eat your peas and ham, and may 2012 bring you health, wealth, and happiness.