bourbon & brown sugar glazed pork chops | warm apple, bacon & gorgonzola slaw | hoppin' john
Every January 1st, between watching the Rose Bowl Parade & college football, my family eats the same food. Black eyed peas, cabbage & pork. While my hubby (Jeremy) happily chows down on the pork loin, he can only manage to put down a bite of the black eyed peas & cabbage. But after that one bite, he considers himself immune from misfortune for another 365 days. Why? Google the meanings behind eating these foods on New Year’s Day, and you’ll find a variety of answers from every little old lady in the south (okay probably just the ones that can use a computer, right?). My favorite little old lady in the south (Granny, fully capable of using a computer) says:
“It’s an old custom that means you had enough food stored to last through the winter. Peas to plant for new crop, cabbage stored in the root cellar and pigs left to butcher.” (she texted that by the way).
In other words, be grateful for the good from last year & you’ll be blessed for another year. So, for my first post on a blog about cooking “Meals I’ve Never Made”, I’m not messing with history. I’m making black eyed peas, cabbage & pork. Just ones that taste better than last year. Here were the recipes:
You’ll find most of these ingredients in your pantry. I usually keep a stash of ginger in my freezer which makes it’s easy to grate for recipes that only call for a small amount. Unfortunately, my kitchen gnomes seem to have borrowed that to make gingersnaps last month & I was forced to use powdered ginger. I have to say, while the glaze was incredibly tasty, the taste of fresh ginger was definitely missed.
I skipped the grill because I was lazy and made these in my grill pan (gift from hubby that is loved/used all the time). These came together so quickly, so I can easily see this being a quick meal during the week. The thick cut pork chops stay juicy & tender, but beware of portion sizes. We ended up sharing just one of the chops because they were so large!
This recipe served more as inspiration. My variations: 4 bacon slices, well, because I had 4 slices left in my fridge & I would have felt terrible leaving that last little guy by himself. I nixed the shallot, swapped blue cheese for gorgonzola, swapped 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar for 2 cups of apple cider, & added in a thinly sliced granny smith apple.
I brought the apple cider vinegar to a boil & then added it to the gorgonzola, salt & pepper in a food processor. I think this dressing would have been better had I added a tablespoon or so of honey here. In a separate pan, I cooked the shredded cabbage, red peppers & sliced apple in a tablespoon of the bacon drippings for about a minute on medium heat, or just enough to get the veggies heated through. Then I tossed the cabbage mixture, crumbled bacon and some chopped green onions in the gorgonzola dressing.
I think every person I know ate black eyed peas on New Year’s Day for good luck. If you didn’t, make these & eat like 5 servings and you should be good! I followed some of PW’s variations and used the chopped red bell pepper leftover from the cabbage salad & swapped ham hock for sliced bacon. Whoa! This has to be the best way to eat black eyed peas. Even hubby, who thinks beans are pretty terrible had seconds of these! Notice how I said beans there? Black eyed peas are beans! And tomatoes are fruit!? I won’t argue on this, but will just say these bean/peas make delicious leftovers with some skillet cornbread.
If this is all you have to eat for a year of luck & good fortune, sign me up! Oh my awesomeness this was tasty & full flavored! The sour/savory slaw was a perfect pair for the sweet bourbon sauce & I think I’ll happily avoid making boiled peas for the rest of my life now. If your family is not crazy about eating cabbage on a weeknight (or ever), these pork chops would be great paired with mashed potatoes and broccoli as the recipe suggests.
Dish up!
Does your family have any traditions to celebrate the New Year?
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