Hoppin' John - A Southern New Year's Tradition

Gorgeous bowl of New Years' Day Hoppin' Johns.  This hearty meal (or side) is thought to bring you good luck in the new year, here in the south.  This recipe is easy and makes for wonderful leftovers.

Hoppin' John

Ingredients-

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 16 oz of black-eyed peas
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 ham hock or 16 oz of bacon, chopped
• 1 tsp chili powder
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp of white vinegar
• 1 pack fresh baby spinach
• Brown rice, cooked, to serve the Hoppin' Johns over

Steps-

1. Soak peas in water, overnight.
2. Preheat a dutch oven.
3. Melt butter on low heat.
4. Add onions, bell pepper, celery & garlic and sauté on low until soft, 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the peas, bacon, chili powder, salt & pepper.  Stir to mix.
6. Add 4 cups chicken stock, stir and simmer on low.
7. After an hour or so, add more chicken broth if necessary.
8. Continue to simmer on low 4-6 hours.
9. Just before serving add vinegar and stir in spinach.
10. Serve over rice (or better yet, leftover chicken bog, if you have some)

Pictured in this post-

• Small shamrock Fiestaware bowl
• 3.5 qt Le Creuset Dutch Oven or here
• 8 oz Ball Fruit Mason jars

Beer Braised Short Ribs and Goat Cheese Beet and Arugula Sandwiches

The first big college football weekend of the season is here.  The games are fun, of course, but my favorite part about this time of year (like most times of the year) is the food.  Inching towards fall means inching towards a few richer cooler weather foods, and of course, it also means more grilling.

Yesterday, we decided to make short ribs and sandwiches for the games.

We have to talk about short ribs for a minute.  They're an underrated secret, if you ask me.  They are so easy to make, yet always impressive.  And, because they are so rich, 1-2 short ribs per person is more than enough, especially if you're serving as an appetizer or half of a main dish.

They do take some time to cook though, so plan ahead a bit for this one.

Beer Braised Short Ribs

Ingredients-

• 4 Bone-in short ribs
• 1/4 cup dry barbecue seasoning (we like Charleston Pig for this recipe)
• ~12 oz of Beer* (the amount will vary depending on the size of your vessel)
• Heaping handful of wood chips (we used bourbon soaked oak, but use what you like)

Steps-

1. Plan ahead, this takes about 5 hours, all in.
2. Start up the egg, be sure you have enough charcoal for a 5 hour cook.
3. Raise the temperature to about 250°.
4. In the meantime, go prepare your meat by covering each short rib with rub.
5. Once the grill is up to temp, add wood chips directly to the charcoal, put the plate setter on and then the standard grate.
6. Place your short ribs on, bone down, and let them grill for 2 hours.
7. Remove the short ribs and place them in a dutch oven or similar vessel (we sometimes use aluminum pans and foil).
8. Add beer to your pan, until it covers the ribs about half way, then cover the pan.
9. Return the ribs, in pan, to the grill and cook for an additional 3 hours at 250°.
10. Remove the ribs, let sit for 10 or so minutes before removing from the pan, then serve hot.

*Often beer braised short-rib recipes call for a stout beer.  We've tried a few and found that it's best to use any beer that you actually like to drink.  We used a favorite local beer this time, Tradesman Brewing Company's Master Welder Agave Wheat.  


To accompany the Short Ribs, we made Goat Cheese, Beet & Arugula Sandwiches.

Yes, that is in fact a more traditional grilled cheese there in the back.  Special request from the kiddo ;).

Grilled Goat Cheese, Beet & Arugula Sandwiches

Ingredients-

• Sliced bread
• Soft goat cheese, about 2 oz. per sandwich
• Sliced pickled beets**
• Arugula (aka Rocket)
• Butter

**We got the most amazing pickled beets from Rachelle The Pickle Lady at the Charleston Farmer's market.  If you can't find fresh pickled beets, I'd probably opt for getting fresh beets and roasting them yourself.  If you don't want to do that, you can always grab a store bought jar of pickled beets.

Steps-

1. Heat your grill or skillet to about 350°.
2. Butter the outsides of two slices of bread per sandwich.
3. Flip the bread and add goat cheese to one side.
4. Strain or blot excess liquid from sliced beets.
5. Add about 5-6 beet slices on top of the goat cheese.
6. Top with arugula, add another layer of goat cheese and top with the other slice of bread.
7. Grill your sandwiches, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Big Green Egg: Lemon Pepper Rotisserie Chicken with Beets and Sweets

We are ruined.

We used to pick up a grocery store rotisserie chicken once or twice a month.  Perfect for a quick chicken salad, enchiladas, or just plain with a fresh salad.

That was before we roasted our first chicken on the JoeTisserie.  My mouth is watering just typing this post.  If you have a BGE or Joe, you MUST consider getting one of these things!  Be warned, however, you may never want a grocery store chicken again.

There should be more chicken in this picture, but we had to do a little QA.  Sorry.  But, it is too good!

Chicken cooked using this device has an awesome crust and delicious juicy meat. 

Lemon Pepper Rotisserie Chicken

Ingredients -

• 1 whole chicken (organic if you can spring for it)
• 3 Tbsp Dizzy Pig Shakin' The Tree or other Lemon Pepper Seasoning/rub

Recipe

1. Heat the BGE up between 350° and 400°.  Direct (so, no platesetter).
2. Rinse and thoroughly dry the chicken.
3. Cover the chicken in the lemon pepper rub.
4. Slide the rotisserie spit rod through the chicken and secure with forks.
5. Insert the spit rod holding the chicken into the JoeTisserie.
6. Turn the rotisserie on.
7. Roast the chicken until it reaches an internal temp of 155° which should take about an hour to an hour and a half depending on the size of your chicken and exact grill temperature.
8. Carefully remove the chicken still on the spit rod and rest on a plate for several minutes before removing the rod or forks.
9. Carefully remove the forks then spit rod.
10. Carve it up!

Tonight, we're having Beets and Sweets as our side.  I use an adapted version of this recipe.  I use a teaspoon of honey instead of sugar and use whatever ratio of beets and sweets we feel up to at the time.

This is an amazing fall recipe, but we like to eat it year-round (even on a sweltering 92° lowcountry day like today).  It makes for awesome leftovers, too!

This chicken though.  Yum!!