For some strange reason I have carried around this unrequited fear of Asian cooking. I have always had the attitude of well I only eat at restaurants where they serve food I can't make...so the list of restaurants I went to always included Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai...you get the picture. This fear was kind of strange as I normally have the attitude of eh I will try anything once, but when it came to Asian cooking I just wasn't as adventurous. I think some of it was a lack of knowledge, some of it was ignorance and some of it was laziness. I just felt like I didn't truly know the ingredients, didn't have the cooking accoutrement and I didn't have the desire to stop going to my favorite sushi restaurant every Friday.




However, over the last year I have slowly started to face this fear head on. And I have to say this last go at Asian cuisine made me pretty damn proud...ok let's be honest I pretty much rocked it. I tried some adventurous ingredients, used my wok and it actually had really good Asian flavors.

So I made Crisp Genmaicha Tofu with Shiitakes and Savoy Cabbage. Genmaicha is a tea. It is actually translated to mean brown rice tea, however it is a green tea that has brown rice added to it. It is also known as "popcorn tea" obviously based on the appearance, which is the brown rice and because it sometimes pops while it cooks...but I didn't hear that.

It is also known as the "people's tea" as it was a common drink of the poor population in Japan, however everyone drinks it now. The rice served as a filler which reduced the price. It is also used as a religious tea because supposedly the rice helps to act as a filler when you are fasting for religious purposes. However, I don't think I could ever fast and if I was I don't think this tea would keep me going for long...it definitely would not keep me from becoming a bitch which I often become when I am really hungry...just saying.

So the first thing you do is you steep the genmaicha in hot water and let it sit for 5 minutes and then strain it.

Next heat the oil in a pan or a wok and saute the sliced shiitake mushrooms and ginger. Let me just say on a side note...shiitakes are expensive. I think I spent like $12-15 on mushrooms alone for this recipe. I know you can buy them dried and that might have been cheaper, but I did opt to buy them fresh and they were really good. Cook until the mushrooms start to shrink and initially I was worried about being able to recognize when the mushrooms were "shrinking," however it is kind of like spinach...one minute your pan is full and the next minute there is less in the pan. Shrinkage has occurred!!

Then you add the tea and cook with the mushrooms. Finally add the cabbage and cook until it has wilted and the liquid has started to evaporate.

With the tofu you slice it horizontally. I am so lame that whenever I read a recipe that says horizontally I have to think to myself...ahhh the horizon cut across not up and down....but it works. Then cut each of the horizons in an "X" forming 8 pieces. Blot tops with paper towels. I actually let them sit on the paper towels to absorb even more excess liquid.

The next step of the recipe called for a spice grinder, which I don't own. So I decided to try to make the spice mix in my food processor and it worked great. So grind peppercorns and polenta or cornmeal if you don't have polenta. Add genmaicha tea and salt and pulse until its combined.

Brush the tofu with oil and then sprinkle with the tea mixture, pressing it into the tofu with your fingers...kind of like a crust. Cook the tofu in a hot skillet with oil for approximately 8 minutes on one side and 3 minutes on another. The tofu came out perfectly!! It was still soft on the inside but it had a nice spicy crust on the exterior.

Serve the tofu over the cabbage/mushroom mixture. This recipe had great flavors!! The tea gave it a herbal taste that paired well with the spice of the peppercorns and the ginger in the mushrooms. The textures were also perfect as the mushrooms were soft and a little slimey (and I mean that in a good way) and the tofu was crisp due to the polenta. I felt that the flavors were truly very authentically Asian and to be honest I couldn't stop eating the mushroom/cabbage mixture while the tofu cooked so I must have really liked that part.

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 tsp. genmaicha (toasted-rice green tea) $
• About 4 tbsp. grapeseed or other vegetable oil, divided
• 1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sel gris or other coarse sea salt, divided
• 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced savoy or napa cabbage
• 1 block (about 1 lb.) medium-firm or firm tofu
• 2 tablespoons polenta
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons finely sliced green onions

Preparation

1. 1. Combine 2 tsp. genmaicha leaves and 1 1/2 cups boiling water; let steep 5 minutes, then strain into a bowl.
2. 2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add mush­rooms and ginger; sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt and cook until mushrooms begin to shrink. Add brewed tea; cook 5 minutes. Stir in cabbage and cook until slightly wilted but still green and most of liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Set aside, covered.
3. 3. Slice tofu in half horizontally and set on paper towels. Cut an X through each half, forming 4 triangles per half, or 8 total. Blot tops with paper towels.
4. 4. Pulverize polenta and peppercorns in a spice grinder. Add remaining 1 tbsp. tea and 1 tsp. salt and pulse just to combine.
5. 5. Brush tofu on both sides with some oil. Liberally sprinkle oiled sides with polenta mixture and press on with your fingers.
6. 6. Heat remaining 2 tbsp. oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook tofu until deeply golden brown on one side, about 8 minutes. Flip and brown other side lightly, about 3 minutes more.
7. 7. Arrange 2 tofu triangles on each of 4 warmed dinner plates. Reheat mushrooms and cabbage in pan, stir in green onions, and spoon mixture around tofu.

All and all I was pretty down right pleased with myself when it came to this recipe. The flavors were authentic, it was pretty and it tasted great!! Hmmm what kind of food fears should I tackle next? The world is my playground now!! Cheers!!

I am learning the art of taking myself on a date...oh you were hoping to hear about some torrid or romantic or sexy date in which I was whisked away to a foreign land for amazing food and wine. Um well yeah no!! However, my ME date consisted of a little pampering, an amazing meal made by me and a movie that no one would ever want to sit through with me. How do you beat an I love me date, right? I figure if men can have I love me rooms, at the very least I can have an I love me date.

So I love to cook food in which I have no pre-conceived notions about what it should look like or taste like...because seriously if you know nothing about it...you are always a success!! Win/win!! It is good for your palette and for you ego.

I know very little about how to cook Asian inspired food so I decided to try a dish that well is Asian inspired. Last night I made Chicken Korma. Korma is an Asian dish that is made with yogurt or cream and a seed or nut paste. This recipe came from Food Network and it did contain yogurt, however the paste was more of a spice paste. It really had a ton of flavor as the paste consisted of onions, ginger, coriander and cumin. The yogurt made it creamy and the sprinkling of cashews gave it the perfect texture contrast. It also had fresh cilantro added at the end which gave it a nice flavor enhancement.

I will be honest I am never sure of ground chicken...sometimes the texture is a little off, but this recipe really turned out nicely since the chicken was cooked in the spice paste and yogurt mixture. I also enjoyed this recipe as it allowed me to take my new food processor on it's maiden voyage. And damn do I love it!

The spice paste is super easy to make. Throw the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin and salt into the food processor and turn it on.

Next saute the rest of the onion in vegetable oil. Once it has softened add the spice paste and cook until dry. Yes, you can actually visibly see a difference. I was a little concerned about the whole dry thing, but it does look different...less watery and more well dry.

Add the chicken and cook until it is no longer pink. I cooked it for like 8 minutes...the recipe doesn't have a time on it, but it took me about 8 minutes. Add the yogurt and water and cook for another 3 minutes. Voila!!

Serve the chicken mixture on warm pita with additional yogurt, cashews and cilantro sprinkled on top. This recipe really had a lot of great flavor! I love ginger and the ginger/spice mixture was heaven!! I love fresh pitas and they were perfect with the chicken mixture.




Oh I should mention...well just because it is me...be careful when opening the container of yogurt. My container exploded all over my black sweatshirt and hmmm come to find out yogurt on a black sweatshirt not so hot!!

• 1 large red onion; 1/2 chopped, 1/2 sliced
• 1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
• 3/4 pound ground chicken
• 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 4 pocketless pitas
• Chopped cashews and/or hot sauce, for garnish (optional)

Directions

I have prided myself for a long time on making the worlds most dense, tough and hardy muffins on the planet. However, I do truly recognize that "Worlds Hardest Muffins," on the side of a bakery just isn't very enticing and hence I have opted not to open a panaderia, bakery or coffee shop as of yet.


Tonight I made Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins and I had some reservations when I selected this recipe because:

• Whole wheat flour can sometimes change the consistency of baked products and make them too heavy...and since I tend to do this really well on my own I wasn't sure if I needed any help in this area. 
• This recipe said that if you over mix these muffins they can become really dense...hmmm yet again I do this way too well independently I don't need a recipe with a tendency towards density. 
• The sweetener for this recipe consisted of honey and a sprinkling of brown sugar. Aren't muffins supposed to be filled with fat and sugar and be like 500 calories per mini muffin bite? Is honey and a bit of brown sugar really going to do it?
• Blueberries aren't in season so should I even attempt this or should I shelve this recipe for summer? Ok sure with my cookbook collection once this book goes back on the shelf I will never see it again. 

So as many of you know I have just recently discovered quinoa and I am quickly becoming a full fledged fan. Last night I made Creamy Quinoa Primavera and I loved it. Now if you are new to quinoa like I am the first thing you must learn is how to say it. So for clarification it is pronounced keen-wa.



There is a debate that played out on my FB page the last few days as to whether or not you should rinse quinoa. Some people rinse it to remove saponin, which can be bitter tasting and others don't rinse it and do not notice a change in flavor. Last night I tried NOT rinsing it and I thought it tasted great. So next time I will try rinsing it and I will let you know if I taste the difference.

Quinoa is also good for you as it is high in vitamin B, calcium, iron, phosphorous and magnesium. I also read somewhere that it was higher in protein than other grains/cereals. It is also gluten free so if you are trying to follow a gluten free diet this is a good alternative.

This recipe had some great ideas, but I did find that I had to tweak it a bit. The quinoa was cooked in chicken broth which gave it additional flavor and made it salty which I like. The recipe did say to cook it for 10-15 minutes and I found 20-25 minutes to be a little more accurate unless you want your quinoa on the soupy side. Once the quinoa is cooked mix in cream cheese and fresh basil. When I first read the part about the cream cheese I thought that sounded really strange but it added a creamy consistency which was a nice contrast to the fiber and crunch of the quinoa.

The recipe then calls for margarine melted in a pan and since I have sworn off margarine I used butter. Sure probably a few more calories and fat, but I just have an aversion to the margarine process. Saute garlic in the butter. I am use to sauteing in olive oil so I did find that although the recipe said to cook it for 30 seconds it took longer in the butter . Then add 5 cups of vegetables. The recipe recommended using asparagus, broccoli, carrot and zucchini. However, I wanted a little more color contrast and I wanted to throw in some veggies that I like a bit better than broccoli so I used asparagus, carrot, zucchini, mushroom and yellow bell pepper. It was a really pretty color contrast. I did find that the recipe said to cook the vegetables with the garlic mixture for 2 minutes but that just wasn't long enough unless you like all of your vegetables pretty much raw. I for one am not a fan of raw asparagus so I cooked the vegetables probably closer to 5-7 minutes.

Add the vegetables to the quinoa and serve with Romano cheese. This recipe was great. It was the perfect comfort food after running and it felt hearty even though it was vegetarian. I loved the nutty flavor of the quinoa and how it was complimented by the Romano cheese. I also loved the contrast of textures between the quinoa, the cream cheese and the vegetables. It was definitely a great recipe and it could be used as a side dish or a main course.

Here is the link for the full recipe if you would like to give this dish a try:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/creamy-quinoa-primavera/22b5e2bd-04c9-44f2-9e42-66b6b24f5d76

Yes, I know it is strange that it is a Betty Crocker recipe. However, I have learned over the years to read a recipe based on the ingredients and the technique and to be non-discriminatory about the source. This time that philosophy paid off, however I have also had the reverse occur so don't worry you are not alone.

I just want to leave you all with a quote that really hit home for me. It was an article in the Best Food Writing of 2012 and it truly summarizes how cooking and writing compliment each other. When I read this I just felt that this completely encapsulates how I feel about both.

"Since I am both a chef and a writer, I am sometimes compelled to contemplate what cooking and writing have in common. What draws me to both pursuits is the simple joy I find in making something, and I have often said that being a cook or writing a story satisfies that same impulse. We all like to make things. And since I am not particularly good with power tools, I don't make houses." -Greg Atkinson

So as many of you know I have been harboring a fear of fennel for a long time. Everyone always describes it as tasting like black licorice...which I don't like so I have just shied away from eating it. However, it has become more and more popular so I knew that the time to face my fears was quickly approaching. And OMG I am so thankful I did!! I have truly become a fennel believer and I am more than willing to try ANY recipe that has it listed as an ingredient.




On Sunday night I made Roasted Fennel, Egg and Pancetta Panzanella. For those of you who aren't familiar with panzanella, it is a bread salad. It is normally made with tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, but this recipe definitely had a twist as it had the fennel and pancetta roasted together and it was served with an egg on top.

I truly made this recipe on the coldest night of the year and it was seriously the best comfort food on the planet and yes, I am confident in that declaration. The fennel is sliced and mixed with the pancetta, garlic, sugar and olive oil. It is roasted for 10 minutes. Then add 4 cups of ciabatta bread cubes. This was the hardest part for me as I really just wanted to snack on the bread cubes. I bought ciabatta from La Brea bakery and it was fresh, soft and just yummy to snack on!!! Roast the mixture for another 10 minutes.

While this concoction is roasting cook the 4 eggs in olive oil. I had never cooked eggs in olive oil and it  was awesome. It really gave the eggs a little extra flavor, kept them from sticking and made them really golden and crispy around the edges. Loved it!!

I do have to admit that the recipe called for sunny side up eggs, however I ALWAYS prefer my eggs over hard so I did go a slightly different path from the recipe on this one portion.

• 8 ounces pancetta, cut into cubes
• 1 large fennel bulb, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided $
• 4 cups cubed or torn ciabatta bread
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 large eggs $
• 2 cups arugula

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 425°. Mix pancetta, fennel, garlic, sugar, and 2 tbsp. oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast together, stirring often, until mixture is starting to brown and soften, about 10 minutes. Add ciabatta and sprinkle mixture with pepper. Roast until bread is toasted and fennel is softened, about 10 minutes more.
2. 2. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tbsp. oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Crack eggs into pan, cover, and fry until whites are set, about 3 minutes.
3. 3. Mix warm bread mixture with arugula and divide among 4 plates. Set an egg on top of each.

Overall, this is one of my favorite recipes of the moment. And sure I know I am very recipe fickle, but I would even make this one again. The spice from the fennel, paired with the saltiness of the pancetta is a winning combination. I love the combination of textures between the bread, the egg and the fennel. And roasting everything gives it all a sweet and nutty flavor that just compliments all of the ingredients perfectly. This dish is also very versatile, it could be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I just happened to do it for dinner so I could have it with wine.

I paired this dish with Millesime's 2006 Scoprire which is a blend of Syrah, Sangiovese and Viognier. And it complimented the fennel and pancetta perfectly!! Truly a pairing to dream of.

I love food that looks hard...when it is actually easy. And that is exactly what these cookies are. You look at a cookie and see that it is stuffed and you think,"wow, how did that filling get inside that cookie?" Kind of like filled donuts! I was so fascinated with them as a kid because I always wondered how that filling ended up inside that donut. Thankfully my Mom never took me to a donut shop when they were filling donuts otherwise I would have been so disappointed...probably equivalent to finding out Santa wasn't real. As a side note yes I was one of those kids who was devastated by that reality. However, since I was a logical kid I did tell my parents that I was kind of relieved as I was a little concerned about the fact that he could get into my house...even back then I knew that breaking and entering was bad. Haha



Anyway I digress...back to the cookies. So the Chocolate Peanut Munchies I made were a chocolate cookie with a peanut butter filling. And let me just say this recipe was a complete winner they are soft, not too sweet and have a great blend of chocolate/peanut butter flavor so that neither one is completely overpowering.

Like every other cookie recipe you blend the dry ingredients in a separate bowl-flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Does anyone else get immense pleasure from using up an ingredient? I was so excited to use up a container of cocoa powder and I often feel the same way when finishing a bag of flour, a box of butter, etc. I kind of feel like it's a sense of accomplishment of sorts.

In the bowl of a mixer blend the 2 butters (peanut and regular) and the 2 sugars (white and brown). Add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Then add the flour mixture. This becomes your chocolate dough. And even though there is a hint of peanut butter in this dough, in my opinion, the peanut butter flavor is not distinguishable.

In a 2nd mixer bowl...or in my case in the same bowl that you just washed...combine the remaining peanut butter and powdered sugar. This mixture is somewhat crumbly, however once you start to shape it into balls it does come together so do not panic.

Roll both mixtures into 32 balls. Ok because I make big cookies I made closer to 25-27 balls, but that is just me.

Take your chocolate balls and flatten them out. Top with a peanut butter ball and shape the chocolate dough around them. Place on a cookie sheet and then use a glass dipped in sugar to flatten them out.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

Sounds pretty easy, right!!! And I have to say my best friend, who tastes almost all of my food, said these cookies were her favorite yet! Which is quite the compliment as she is pretty much the female version of the cookie monster...minus the blue fur. Ok not really but it sounded funny so I went with it.

Here is the link to the recipe if you would like to give it a try: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cookies/peanut-butter-munchies/

I love chewy and chocolatey cookies and these cookies were both so I was an extremely happy camper. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Cheers!!

So I have been out of the kitchen for a few days as I have been unable to walk or stand due to a pretty smooth fall on the streets of Downtown LA while running a half marathon. Believe me I would love to come up with a way better, sexy and torrid story but the truth of the matter is...I just fell while running. And I had two options-lay literally on the street in LA until someone found me or get my ass off the ground and continue running my half marathon...so I opted for #2 and finished with a 2:14. Sure not my best time, but I have to say I am pretty proud of that finish because it showed me just what I am made of...I will never be that girl that just lays there on the street waiting to get ran over by another runner, car, bike cop or transient. Cheers to me!




However, I do have to say that all day today I had kitchen fantasies. Yes, truly kitchen fantasies. And for clarification it was not some sexy 50 Shades of Grey kitchen S&M gig...it was truly I couldn't wait to get my ass back in the kitchen. So the first thing I did when I got off work was to run to the grocery store. The first decision I had to make was sweet or savory and although I had the ingredients to make a berry tart I opted for savory. My first choice was scallops, however the store I stopped at did not have scallops. My second choice was chicken and wild rice soup...hmmm yeah no wild rice. Ok #3 was broccoli cheese soup...some other friggin ingredient was missing. So I ended up with option #4-Steak and Blue Cheese Pizza. But needless to say I was frustrated at the grocery store and I probably looked like a crazy person between googling recipes on my phone, picking up ingredients, putting them down and moving onto other ingredients...would have loved to have a reality TV crew following me tonight.

Anyway when I got home all was right with the world. I stepped into the kitchen, unpacked my groceries, took a deep breath and was just filled with bliss. I will be honest I don't cook a lot of steak for myself...for some reason it is just not something I think of as a dinner for one kind of thing. However, tonight it was perfect!! The recipe was from Cooking Light, which is probably a good thing since I can't work out until the swelling goes down in my knee and it had several of my favorite things-caramelized onions, blue cheese and bread.

I do have to say that I couldn't find mini pizza crusts but since I was on recipe #4 I was bound and determined to walk out of the store with ingredients for something so I opted for pita bread and it worked just great. The recipe had a great contrast of flavors between the blue cheese, the sweet onions, the earthy flavor of the steak and the spice of the horseradish/mayo sauce...seriously yum!!

This recipe was also a lot of fun to make. Saute the onions and mushrooms in cooking spray. Cook them for 3 minutes on the lid on to kind of steam them and then cook them for 5 minutes with the lid off to brown them. This technique worked really well and they were very sweet and tender when they came out of the pan.

Next cook the steak. I love steak that is just seasoned with fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt and this steak came out perfectly. Initially  I was a little concerned as it said to cook the steak for 3 minutes on each side and I was convinced that it wasn't enough time, but sure enough those folks at Cooking Light know what they are talking about and after I let it sit for 5 minutes...yes that was also recommended...it was perfect...medium rare.

Meanwhile I cooked my pita crusts for 3 minutes in the oven. When they came out I schmeared...yes that is a word...the horseradish/mayo mixture on the crust. I love a little spice and this horseradish was awesome!! I actually a little extra just because I thought the flavor was divine!!

Next I added the caramelized onion/mushroom mixture to the top of the horseradish sauce...put my crust in the oven and baked for 2 minutes. I cut the steak into slices and when the pizzas came out of the oven I put my steak slices and blue cheese on top of the onions and cooked for another 2 minutes. When they came out of the oven the blue cheese was starting to melt, the steaks were browned and the onions were golden.

• Cooking spray
• 2 cups vertically sliced onion $
• 1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 (8-ounce) boneless sirloin steak, trimmed $
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 3 (7-inch) refrigerated individual pizza crusts (such as Mama
• Mary's)
• 2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise $
• 1 1/2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
• 1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms; cover and cook 3 minutes. Uncover and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt; remove onion mixture from pan.
3. Sprinkle steak with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add steak to pan; cook over medium-high heat 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 minutes; cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices.
4. Place crusts on a baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 3 minutes. Remove crusts from oven.
5. Combine mayonnaise and horseradish; spread each crust with about 2 teaspoons mayonnaise mixture. Arrange onion mixture evenly over crusts; bake at 450° for 2 minutes. Divide steak and cheese evenly among pizzas; bake an additional 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Cut each pizza in half.

I was a happy camper with my glass of red wine, my knee propped up and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on TV...all is right with the world. Cheers my friends!!

I really am a carb girl. If I could get away with it I would truly eat carbs and carbs only, however that is just not the healthiest of plans. When the Atkins Diet came out I was really hoping for a diet that was carbs only...but alas I am still waiting and I am starting to give up hope at this point. So although I don't really believe in the whole necessity of carb loading before a run I definitely buy into it just because it gives me an excuse to well...carb load. This half marathon that I am running today is a little tricky as it starts at 9pm and so I am not completely sure how to prepare for it.

 

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 12 ounces whole-wheat penne
• 1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup vodka
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn, plus more for topping

Directions

So I decided to ring in 2013 with some Hoppin' Johns. Actually I made Hoppin' John's Cousin because I found a recipe in Cooking Light that still maintained the integrity of the tradition without the fat/calories. After running 7 miles this morning I just couldn't justify the extra calories just for prosperity.



I remember as a kid my Mom making black eyed peas and I remember thinking they were nasty. I don't totally remember how she cooked them but I remember them having a grainy texture. However, the recipe I made today was great. It had just the right amount of spice from the andouille sausage, it had great flavor from the spices and it was packed full of vegetables. I also love dishes that have a combination of protein and rice as it just tends to be a complete meal in a bowl. This recipe was a winner!

Now if you are unfamiliar with the tradition of black eyed peas on New Years let me share what I know. They are supposed to bring good luck and prosperity when eaten on New Years. Since they swell when they cook that is indicative of the prosperity for the year ahead. Plus it is thought that the peas are symbolic of pennies or coins. As for the good luck that supposedly came from the Civil War. The legend says that when Sherman's army came to the South they took all of the food except the black eyed peas, as they were only meant to be food for livestock, however it was this crop that allowed the Confederates to survive and hence provided good luck.

As for the New Years tradition it doesn't specify how the black eyed peas are to be eaten, however it is often traditional Southern cuisine to have the peas with ham, collar greens (because it is the color of money) and cornbread (the color of gold). However, one of the most common uses of black eyed peas is a dish called Hoppin' John's and it was a variation of this which I made tonight. This is a Southern dish which usually consists of rice, bacon and black eyed peas. It is also part of the prosperous New Years tradition and some people even take it a step further and add a coin to the pot or under the dinner bowls to enhance prosperity.

Now if you eat Hoppin' John the day after New Years, it is called Skippin Jenny and since it demonstrates enhanced frugality it brings about an even better chance of prosperity for the New Year. There is an additional tradition that says you should leave 3 peas on your plate to ensure that your New Year will be filled with luck, fortune and romance.



So the black eyed peas, if you buy them dried, should soak over night or at least 8 hours. I put mine in a bowl to soak yesterday. The reason we soak beans is to allow them to absorb the moisture and hence cook evenly. It also softens them, can keep them from splitting open and break down some of the components in beans which cause gas.



Next you saute onions, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno in olive oil. This concoction smells great! Add cumin and paprika and stir into the sauteed vegetables, which also makes the house smell yummy! Add the beans, water, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, sausage and the rest of the spices and bring to a boil. Once the mixture has boiled, turn down the heat, cover and simmer for approximately 50 minutes or until the beans are soft. Cook a batch of rice and add to the mixture when it is done cooking.

• 1 cup dried black-eyed peas
• 2 teaspoons olive oil $
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced $
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cups water, divided
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco) $
• 3 ounces andouille sausage, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained $
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup uncooked long-grain rice
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (optional)

Preparation

1. 1. Sort and wash black-eyed peas; place in a large bowl. Cover with water to 2 inches above peas; soak for 8 hours or overnight. Drain.
2. 2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and next 4 ingredients (through jalapeño); sauté 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in paprika and cumin; saute 1 minute. Add peas, water, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf), stirring to combine. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until peas are tender. Discard bay leaf.
3. 3. Combine 1 cup water and rice in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 12 minutes or until rice is tender and water is absorbed. Fluff rice with a fork, and stir into pea mixture. Top with green onions, if desired.

For once, I truly wouldn't change a thing about this recipe. It could easily be paired with white wine due to the spice or red wine due to the sausage. This is a cozy comfort food that is truly perfect for New Years or any other day of 2013...now show me the money!! Cheers and Happy New Year!!