"Hoppin' John" My New Year's Tradition

It has long been a tradition among many groups to serve Black Eyed Peas on New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year.  My first thought was, "Why didn't they make Porter House Steak a good luck tradition for The New Year?"

The lowly blackeyed pea has too little taste . . . for MY taste.  But, here I set, looking at a pot of black eyed peas wondering, "What to do, what to do?"

Well, here's what I did!

SNOWYOWL'S HOPPIN' JOHN
1½ cup-Chopped Red Onion
1½ cup-Chopped Ham
1½ cup-Chopped Poblano Pepper (Sweet not Hot)
2 Tbsp-Peanut Oil
2 15oz. cans of black eyed peas (Keep ¾ cup of liquid)
4 Tbsp or more to taste, of Salsa Snowyowl (Can be found at: http://swoopsfromsnowyowl.blogspot.com/2009/09/recipe-for-salsa.html) on my Sept. 18th, 2009 post!  Or, you might want to use Pace's Medium or Hot Salsa as a substitute.
7 oz. Hominy, drained
2 oz. Pimientos, undrained
2½ oz. sliced, ripe Olives, drained
¾ cup sliced Mushrooms

In a large skillet, saute onion, pepper and ham in oil for 3 minutes.  Drain Blackeyed Peas and retain ¾ cup of liquid.  Add blackeyed peas and retained liquid, Salsa, hominy, mushrooms, pimientos and and olives to ham mixture.  Stir to combine then heat over medium heat to a boil. Then simmer for an hour on low.

In my 'fridge, I have two special "Condiments" that I use other than the standard stuff.  One is blueberries and the other is chopped onions.  I have found that whatever I can't improve the flavor of with onions, I can with blueberries.  In this instance, use those chopped onions on top of the finished product when served.  Might want to sprinkle a little pepper jack cheese too.  It's up to you.

As in most of this type of recipe, this is gonna taste much better tomorrow than it does today.  If you can do it a day or so ahead of time and keep your hands off of it, then let it set for a day.  As Grandma always said, "Let it Fester," it will taste even better.