New Year's Ham & Beans

Happy New Year, everyone! Looking forward to a brand new start...

And, to start the new year, we decided to take in some of the long-standing traditions. In case you need a reminder of what some of the mainstays are, here you go:

= black eyed peas - to bring you luck in the new year for nourishment & survival

= pork - pigs are the animals who root forward while they eat & are associated with their girth size; symbolized moving forward in the new year & prosperity 

= greens - to bring you money in the new year

= cornbread - the color of gold

= round foods - the shape of coins, in hopes of bringing money

Well, I incorporated all of these things in our noon-day meal for New Year's Day! One dish to cover all of this? Perfect!

What might have been that perfect dish? It's my Lazy-Cooker Ham & Beans (my original recipe HERE), but with a twist. I kind of touched on it in the original post, but here's what I ended up doing:

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NEW YEAR'S HAM & BEANS

Ingredients:

~ 1-3 lbs. ham, cubed or chunked (the pork)

~ 1 bag dry beans (I use the 15 bean mix), soaked, drained & rinsed

~ 2-3 cans white beans (Northern, Navy, Cannelli), drained & rinsed

~ 1 can black eyed peas (tradition covered), drained & rinsed

~ 32 oz. chicken broth

~ 1/2 C apple cider

~ 1/4 C lemon juice

~ 2 T liquid smoke

~ 2 T honey

~ 2 celery stalks, rinsed & chopped

~ 2 carrots, rinsed & sliced (left in rounds...for the coin shape)

~ 1 parsnip, rinsed & sliced (left in rounds...for the coin shape)

~ half to 1 whole sweet yellow onion, chopped

~ 1 large kale, cabbage, collard greens, Swiss chard leaf (or more - green of choice), rinsed, spine removed & chopped (greens tradition); massaged in ground sea salt & a tsp lemon juice (may add more greens if desired)

~ 2 handfuls brown sugar

~ handful minced onion (optional)

~ handful smoked paprika

~ handful cinnamon

~ handful garlic powder

~ handful dried parsley

~ sprinkle chili powder

~ sprinkle allspice

~ sprinkle McCorrmick's Smokehouse Maple seasoning

~ 1-2 pinches ground cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (optional if more heat desired)

~ 2 bay leaves

Directions:

* soak dry beans in enough water to cover the beans by 1 & a half inches over for about 8 hours

* when beans have soaked appropriately, drain, rinse & discard any pebbles

* spray the lazy cooker insert with cooking spray, then add the beans (not canned) & ham

* pour in the chicken broth, apple cider, lemon juice, liquid smoke & honey

* add in the veggies except the greens of choice

* add in the spices except the bay leaves

* give the mixture a really good stir

* pop in those bay leaves & close the lid

* either set the lazy cooker on high for 4-5 hours

OR

set the lazy cooker on low for 8 hours (if wanting for lunch, so do all of this before bed after you've toasted in the new year)

* remove the bay leaves, add in the canned beans, give a good stir, add the bay leaves back in & close the lid

* set lazy cooker on low for 4 more hours

* in the last 20-45 minutes, remove the bay leaves & discard, then add in the greens, stir & close lid

* give one more really good stir, ladle into bowls & serve with cornbread

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Since we were serving this for lunch on New Year's Day, I started soaking the dry beans at lunch the day before, then started getting everything assembled & started after we toasted in the new year (as a tip: I would have everything already sliced, chopped, cubed, etc. so that you are not trying to do all of the slicing, chopping, cubing, etc. with a champagne buzz at 1:00 in the morning). The beans & ham were cooking for about 12 hours, total. When I got up in the morning, things were smelling like ham & beans, and I got to go right into the last steps.

We had a get-together to start out the new year with great friends...so I doubled this recipe. Yep! I had two lazy cookers going! But I'll tell you what...not everyone showed up and we went thru 1 whole lazy cooker & half of the other one. Many got seconds, too!

If you have someone who cringes at the thought of consuming black eyed peas &/or the greens...you could not taste a difference in this version from my original one! My hubby is not fond of black-eyed peas OR the kale/greens. He is one that got seconds!

And...it was perfect for the super cold day that set it while it filled us up for the rest of the evening.

I also had the whiners covered: I had my daughter make up some cole slaw for the greens, and I made up some canned black eyed peas with a stick of butter, a handful of brown sugar & some [turkey] bacon bits (had to be fake pork due to my non-pork eater).

For something a bit sweeter, I made cheater Danish pastries (my variation of the recipe HERE, but used the original recipe) & added a strawberry half to the top to resemble a heart to bring love in the new year.

bowl of ham & beans with black eyed peas & kale
served with cornbread
and shown with Love Danish Pastries

What a great start to the new year! I think we may have found a new tradition in these traditions! And they were delicious!

Hope this inspires you to keep up & find ways to work in these traditions...even if you have whiners. 

ENJOY!