Happy New Year!!

(Alternative title: What is a southern girl to do when she doesn't like black-eye peas?)

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve! Being the true party animals that we are, Joseph and I were in our pajamas and fast asleep by 9:45! I could use the excuse that we are both recovering/dealing with colds to explain why we went to sleep so early, but the truth is we are usually in bed by that time! By some stroke of luck, Joseph happened to wake up right at 11:59. He woke me up and we watched the clock hit 12:00.

For dinner last night we broke in the new fondue pot (thank you Uncle Chris!). We made a traditional cheese fondue with Gruyere and Emmentaler cheeses. Yum.

As for today, living in the south we knew we had to eat black-eye peas at some point. My problem is that I hate them. They smell like dirty gym socks. Ask my mom, I used to gag down one spoonful every year - for good luck. This year I did something a little different. I made black-eye pea cakes. Think of crab cakes or salmon croquettes. Here's what I did:

1 can black-eye peas, drained and rinsed
Panko breadcrumbs (I didn't measure, but it was probably 1/2 to 3/4 cup)
left-over hash brown potatoes (We made homemade hashbrowns this morning out of new potatoes...I put maybe 1 cup of shredded cooked potatoes in this recipe - you could substitute frozen, preshredded hashbrowns I bet)
1 slice onion, 1 stalk celery, 1 clove garlic - all diced and sauteed until tender in a couple tablespoons of butter

Mash the peas - I made them fairly smooth. Mix in hashbrowns, panko, sauteed veggies. I didn't measure anything and the texture was good. If its too wet, add more bread like things, if it is too dry, add more butter. I scooped the mixture and patted it into small patties - about 1/4 cup each. Before putting on a hot griddle, I dredged each patty in some white flour seasoned with cavenders and Paula Deen's House seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder). Add butter to the skillet to aid in browning and crisping of the crust.

Serve with JuJu's homemade chow-chow.

 


Oh my goodness these were good. I ate two of them! That must mean this year is going to be full of good luck!