INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

(about 1/2 cup)  Put the bacon or salt pork in a saucepan and cook,
stirring often,  until all the cubes are crisp. Add the carrots,
celery, and onion and  cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the peas,
garlic, about 1-1/4 cup  water, or to barely cover, thyme, bay leaf,
salt and red pepper  flakes. Bring to the boil and let simmer,
uncovered, 30 to 40  minutes, until tender but not mushy. Remove from
heat. Put the rice  in a saucepan and add 1-1/2 cups water and salt to
taste. Bring to  the boil and let simmer, covered 17 minutes. Stir in
the butter. (Or,  cook the rice as you normally would). Cut the
unpeeled tomato into  1/4-inch cubes; there should be about 1 cup.
Arrange the hot rice in the center of a platter. Spoon the hot pea
mixture, including liquid over the rice. Scatter the cheese over the
peas. Place tomato cubes around the rice. Scatter the scallions over
the tomatoes. Serve immediately.  NOTES : From the book:  Black-eye or
black-eyed peas seem to figure  ubiquitously on Southern tables, and
Yankee visitors seem to look at  them askance.  They are not
necessarily country fare, as many people  claim them to be.  They
appear on the table of rich and poor, the  educated and the uneducated
alike, and are eaten with equal  enthusiasm. They are the basis of a
dish known as Hoppin' John, the  origin of which name no one seems to
be able to explain.  The dish  is....one of the most traditional of
Southern dishes.  It is served  in many Southern homes on New Year's
Day to bring all those assembled  good luck throughout the year. This
is a modernized version  demonstrated for me by Bill Neal, a fine young
North Carolina chef.  Recipe by: Craig Claiborne's Southern Cooking,
1987, p. 187  Posted to recipelu-digest Volume 01 Number 422 by Lou
Parris  <lbparris@earthlink.net> on Dec 30, 1997

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