RECIPE
1 1-pound ham steak
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 celery rib, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups chicken broth
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
4 cups fresh black-eyed peas
2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 cups water
Preheat grill to high.
Rinse the ham under running water, then pat dry and trim off any excess fat. Season both sides with salt and black pepper.
When your grill is hot, use tongs to dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and run them a dozen times across the grates. Grill ham over direct heat until grill marks begin to appear and the ham is cooked through, about 5 minutes on each side. Allow the ham to cool, then roughly chop.
Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over direct heat, then cook onion, celery and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes. Add broth, salt, black pepper, and peas and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until peas are tender and creamy, about 45 minutes. Add chopped ham and stir.
Add rice, butter, and water to a medium pot on your stovetop and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove pot from heat and allow rice to rest for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Spoon rice onto plates and top with the peas and ham.
"A classic Southern dish" is how Frank Thomas describes Hoppin' John. Sure enough, a quick online search comes up with a pile of Hoppin' John recipes that's almost as high as Stone Mountain.
Around the same time I prepared Thomas' recipe, I came across this near-rapturous exaltation of the dish in The Member of the Wedding by Georgia-born author Carson McCullers:
Now hopping-john was F. Jasmine's very favorite food. She had always warned them to wave a plate of rice and peas before her nose when she was in her coffin, to make certain there was no mistake; for if a breath of life was left in her, she would sit up and eat, but if she smelled the hopping-john, and did not stir, then they could just nail down the coffin and be certain she was truly dead.
Well, that's quite a statement, attesting to the powerful hold this simple dish has on people. It's one of those slow-cooking recipes that afford you time for contemplation of life and death, I guess.
But it is also delicious. No southern cookbook would be complete without a Hoppin' John recipe, and the one presented by Thomas does not disappoint. I could keep eating this until the time comes to nail down the coffin. On that delightful note...
Put it on the board, yes!
