a cup of kindness (for auld lang syne)

i don’t know about any of you sweet four people who are reading this, but i feel like i am finally starting to slowly crawl my way out of the daze of holiday over-eating (and yes, occasionally over-tippling).  team jo rocked the season like we were living in a richard curtis film; we donned our reindeer jumpers, we enjoyed the obligatory new year's curry buffet (more turkey curry, bridge?), we told the truth, because at christmas that's what you do. 

(to me, you were perfect... until you started killing zombies)

we ran through that holiday season like harry sprinting the streets of new york to find sally before that new year's ball dropped, enjoying every hang with friends, every dinner, every party along the way.  

but now, like a newborn foal (or perhaps hippopotamus), i feel like i’m tentatively emerging from the cave of over-indulgence, blinking ferociously into the bright sun of the new year, as if being faced by kim kardashian's internet-breaking shiny behind.  (my eyes!  they burn!)

my sweet sous chef holding the menorah up like hanukkah can't hold him

the holidays this year certainly held up their end of the deal.  there were turkeys and there were latkes.  there were dumpling feasts, southern feasts, ham feasts, and cheese feasts.  but most importantly there was family who are like friends, and friends who are like family.  you know, those wonderful people who top up not just your glass, but your soul.  the people who make you happy.  we ate, we drank, and by george we were merry!  

annnnd then it was over, just like that, and suddenly i found myself with an empty wallet and an expanded waistline.  now, i’m not one for crash diets, nor for fads, and certainly not for preaching, but if january can have just a titch more restraint if only to allow me to relive the fun next december, then i am all for it. 

soups, stews, braises, these are all dishes that wrap around you like a comfy old sweater, promising to warm you through body and soul, leaving you with the big time warm and fuzzies.  they also, within reason, tend to be more frugal options, as the long cooking time lends them well to affordable, yet exceedingly tasty cuts of meat.  hugh acheson, my dishy culinary crush, makes a soup from ham, black-eyed peas & mustard greens that i revisit every january.  hugh uses a ham hock, but i use the meaty ham bone that we are invariably left with after the holidays; something out of nothing.  (to make it even thriftier (and tastier), if you have any leftover stock made from a holiday turkey, use that in place of the chicken broth.  hugh, meanwhile, raises his single eyebrow in admiration of my thrifty pluck.)  the black-eyed peas give the soup a bit of heft, and the mustard greens, added towards the end of the cooking process, perk it up with some vegetal brightness.  a bowl of this goodness will make you feel a bit less guilty about the indulgent times behind you, and better about yourself for the month to come.  (and by gum, it’s damn tasty too.)

black-eyed pea, ham & mustard green soup (adapted from hugh acheson.  a dish from a dish)

2 tbsps butter

1 small sweet onion, minced

3 medium carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup dried black-eyed peas

8 cups chicken broth (or leftover turkey stock.  word)

1 meaty ham bone

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme (optional: i’ve done it with and without, it’s honestly good both ways)

1 bunch (or, a whack) of mustard greens

1 teaspoon kosher salt

place your soup pot over medium heat and add the butter.  when melted, add your onion, carrot & celery.  cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

add garlic, black-eyed peas, stock and ham bone.  cook for roughly one hour, until peas are tender but not mushy.

remove ham bone from the pot and shred the meat from the bone.  add the meat back to the soup.

that's whack, yo

add the thyme (if using), mustard greens and salt to the pot.  cook for 10 minutes longer until the greens are tender.

serve, dig in, and feel healthy once again.  

so merry belated christmukkahnzaa, lovelies, and cheers to the new year.  here's to auld acquaintances and new, and sharing a cup of kindness together in the new year.  god bless us every four of you…