charting the course for 2012

well here we are again at the beginning at a new year.  the only new year's resolution i ever make is to choose three books that in spite of whatever else i read during the year, i will commit to reading.  this year's choices are 'pale fire' by nabokov, 'the master and margarita' by bulgakov, and 'the windup bird chronicles' by murakami.  not quite sure why i chose 2 russian authors and a japanese one together in the same year.  

looking out in the garden these days it's hard to believe that only a few months ago it looked like a jungle.  my raised beds are barren except for a small patch of parsley that is thriving. i did manage to get my poinsetta from last year to turn red this winter (a process that involved putting it in a dark closet every  night whenever i could remember for 6 weeks. 

lately the only seeds i've been paying attention to is the birdfood that i put in the feeder.  but now that we are into january, it is time to decide what i want to plant for my garden this year.  the seed catalogs have been filling up my mailbox.  you don't realize how many varieties of vegetables are out there until you start flipping through the catalogs.  it's easy to get over ambitious when looking at all the choices.  plus when most seed packs are only about $1.25 a packet, it's easy to end up buying more than you could possibly plant.  the next few weeks i'll be charting out the course for my garden and placing my order.

hoppin john risotto

hoppin john is the traditional new years day food, at least in the south.  go figure that i didn't ever eat it when i lived there. but then i didn't really care for black-eyed peas when i was younger.  now i love them.  i can't say that i've ever really made authentic hoppin john, but i thought it would be interesting to try some kind of derivative of it. i love the combination of rice, beans, and greens so i started with those basic ingredients but chose to use arborio rice and turn it into a risotto.  my only regret is that i didn't have any bacon.  still though, it was a tasty way to start the new year.  

ingredients:
1 cup arborio rice
7-8 cups stock (i used low sodium veggie bouillon cubes)
2/3 cup dried black-eyed peas
1 big bunch of kale coarsly chopped ( i probably had about a pound)
1 large onion, diced
a couple cloves of garlic, diced
1 hot pepper, diced
1 tsp. thyme
lemon juice
parmesan cheese
bacon (for the next time i make it)

since i used dried black-eyed peas, i cooked them in a pressure cooker first, but canned or frozen ones could be used instead.  

heat the stock in a saucepan and keep just below simmering.  melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.  add the arborio rice and stir for about a minute.  add a ladle full of the stock and stir into the rice.  the idea is to keep adding the stock a ladle (about 1/2 -3/4 cup) at a time and letting the rice absorb each ladle full until you add the next.  

while the rice is cooking, heat a large pan with a couple tablespoons of olive oil (or some bacon drippings, yum).  add the onion when the pan is heated. cook the onion for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic, hot pepper, and thyme cooking another minute or so.  (cooking tip:  i'm notorious for heating up oil and then getting distracted, thus forgetting when to add the onion or whatever you are sauteing.  what i do is to add a couple pieces of the chopped onion into the oil as it's heating.  when the oil is hot enough, you'll start to hear the onion sizzling, letting you know it's time to add the rest of it).  

add the chopped kale and stir well.  the pan may be overflowing with kale, but it will cook down pretty quickly.  cook the kale until tender, about 10 minutes.

meanwhile, as you are also cooking the rice, add the black eyed peas after about half way through (about 15 minutes).  continue cooking until the rice it fully cooked (about 30 minutes total cooking time).  add the kale and stir to combine.  cook for a few more minutes, adding more broth if necessary to keep it from being too dry.  finish it off with a squeeze of lemon, salt, and pepper (and crumbled bacon if you have it).  i grated a little parmesan cheese on top which was tasty.  

i also roasted some parsnips and sweet potatoes with rosemary to have on the side.