This morning we had ‘leftover omelettes’. I made salads last night with a slab of prime rib leftover from Christmas Dinner, sliced and heated in a pan. We ate about ⅔ of it. There were also diced tomatoes and sliced mushrooms leftover. So this morning I sautéd a bit of chopped onion and the mushrooms, added the sliced beef and some bacon Mrs. L.A. didn’t eat on Sunday, mixed up some eggs with whipping cream, and added the tomatoes and some medium-sharp shredded cheddar cheese at the end.
As soon as I got out of bed this morning, I drained and rinsed the black-eyed peas that were soaking overnight. They went into the slow cooker with two ham hocks and two bay leaves while the coffee was brewing. A third ham hock went into a large pot of water, where it will simmer until it’s done. In a couple of hours I’ll remove the bones, fat, and skin, and shred the meat. (I’ll do this with the beans as well, and add some salt and cayenne pepper too.) The collard greens will go into the pot to cook in the stock and meat. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll make cornbread muffins, or make a cornbread in a cast-iron frying pan.
So New Year’s food today is ‘leftover omelettes’, ham hock and black-eyed peas, ham hock and collard greens, and corn bread.
Turkey soup. Leftover, meaty turkey carcass, courtesy of a neighbor. An extra bag of leaf spinach that is due to expire tomorrow and some acini de pepe, just like grandma used to use. A spoonful of vegetable soup base and a bay leaf rounds everything out. Making it very broth-y this time, no cheese and egg.
I’ve got Alton Brown’s dry aged prime rib in the oven. Dry aged it for four days. Will serve it with sweet corn pudding and mashed potatoes.
I was going to do biscuits and gravy for our new year send-off, but came to my senses this morning. Back on the dietary regimen for us, after two weeks (and probably ten pounds) of bacchanalia.
Split pea soup with ham, using the bone from our Christmas day ham, has been in the crockpot since this morning. It’s starting to smell really good.
Leftover Chinese food. Gourmet, I know. Speaking of which, is New Year’s Eve Chinese takeout a widespread tradition? I thought it was just me until this morning I read a reference to it online.
The beans and greens turned out well. I made cornbread from scratch and baked it in the cast-iron frying pan. In deference to the missus (and since I wasn’t making chipotle-cheddar cornbread this year), I did put sugar in it.
Pork for good luck, noodles for a long life!
I cooked my black-eyed peas with an onion and a bay leaf until just tender, mixed them into chopped browned bacon and ham, scallions, garlic, brown rice, thyme, and a tot of vinegar, put everything into a buttered bean pot and baked for an hour and a half at 300.
Made a mess o’ greens – mustard, beet, turnip, kale, chard, and dandelion – tossed them with olive oil and a little more vinegar.
Pork AND black-eyed peas for luck, greens for money.
The Way of the Noodle is long and narrow.
Also, “Eat poor on New Year’s, eat rich the rest of the year.”